THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


- 


Oi*i 

m  *  -  • 


- 


k — 


In  the  center  sat  Coyote  " 


IN  THE 

REIGN  OF  COYOTE 

FOLKLORE  FROM  THE  PACIFIC  COAST 


BY 

KATHERINE    CHANDLER 

AUTHOR  OF  "HABITS  OF  CALIFORNIA  PLANTS"  AND  "THE  BIRD- 
WOMAN  OF  THE  LEWIS  AND  CLARK  EXPEDITION1' 


DRAWINGS    BY 

J.  W.  FERGUSON    KENNEDY 


GINN  &  COMPANY 

BOSTON   •  NEW  YORK  •  CHICAGO  •  LONDON 


COPYRIGHT,  1905  BY 
KATHERINE    CHANDLER 


ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED 


55-7 


Cfte   atfttnaum 

(1IXN   &  COMPANY  •   PRO- 
PRIETORS  •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


TO   MY   BROTHER 
ALBERT   E.   CHANDLER 

WHOSE   STEADFAST   SYMPATHY   HAS   MADE    POSSIBLE 
THIS  COLLECTION  OF  FOLKLORE 


545065 


PREFACE 

Some  of  the  tales  contained  in  this  book  have 
already  been  published  in  the  San  Francisco  Chron- 
icle, Los  Angeles  Times,  Sunset,  Popular  Educator, 
Children's  World,  and  Good  Housekeeping. 

The  stories  from  Lower  California,  as  related  by 
Tecla,  were  told  to  me  by  Mrs.  Jules  Simoneau 
of  Monterey,  California,  who  is  an  Indian  from 
Mazatlan.  The  sources  of  those  chapters  contain- 
ing stories  of  Alta  California  are  as  follows:  "Old 
Deer  and  Old  Grizzly,"  Albert  Samuel  Gatschet 
in  The  United  States  Geographical  and  Geological 
Survey  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region  Contribu- 
tions to  North  American  Ethnology,  II,  Part  I,  1 18  ; 
"Why  the  Coyote  is  so  Cunning,"  Stephen  Powers, 
III,  35;  "How  the  Animals  secured  Fire,"  38; 
"Coyote's  Ride  on  a  Star,"  39  ;  "  How  the  Animals 
secured  Light,"  182;  "Why  the  Bat  is  Blind," 
343  ;  "The  Creation  of  Man,"  358  ;  "The  Creation 
of  the  World,"  273,  and  J.  Owen  Dorsey  in  The 
American  Anthropologist,  II,  38;  "The  Story  of 
the  Pleiades,"  Alexander  S.  Taylor  in  The  Califor- 
nia Farmer,  "  Indianology  of  California,"  January 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


1 8,  1 86 1. The  Oregon  country  represented  by 
Klayukat's  tales  is  meant  to  include  the  vast  un- 
bounded territory  known  by  that  name  previous  to 
1848.  The  material  for  the  stories  was  garnered 
from  the  following  books  :  "  How  the  Animals  got 
their  Colors,"  Franz  Boas,  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology :  Kathlamet  Texts,  Bulletin  26,  39  ; 
"  Why  there  is  only  One  Southwest  Wind,"  67  ; 
"The  Robin  and  the  Salmon  Berry,"  118  ;  "Why 
the  Owl  eats  only  Small  Creatures,"  The  Pacific 
Northwest  Oregon  and  Washington,  2  vols.,  com- 
piled and  published  by  the  Northwest  Pacific  His- 
tory Company,  Portland,  Oregon,  1889,  II,  66; 
"  The  Subjugation  of  the  Thunderbird,"  67  ; 
"  How  the  Animals  secured  Salmon,"  68  ;  "  Why 
the  Tick  is  now  Small,"  69 ;  "  The  Frog  in  the 
Moon,"  70  ;  "Why  the  Sun  travels  regularly,"  70; 
"Why  the  Mosquito  hates  Smoke,"  74  ;  "Why  the 
Snakes  change  their  Skins,"  76  ;  "Why  the  Dead 
do  not  come  back,"  80. 

While  the  essentials  of  the  stories  have  been 
retained,  the  narratives  have  been  elaborated  and 
modified. 

The  setting  of  three  Indians  from  different  tribes 
on  the  same  Californian  ranch  is  historically  true. 
Indian  servants  from  Mexico  and  Lower  California 
accompanied  the  pioneers  northward  ;  the  California 


PREFACE  ix 

Indians  who  were  taught  trades  at  the  Missions 
often  drifted  into  the  service  of  the  families  ;  and 
the  records  of  San  Carlos  Mission  show  that  on 
November  14,  1791,  seventeen  natives  of  "Puerto 
de  San  Lorenzo  de  Nutka  en  el  Estrechos  de  San 
Juan  de  Fuca  "  were  baptized  into  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church  at  that  Mission. 

I  am  indebted  to  Miss  Harriet  Hawley  of  New 
York  for  criticism  both  of  the  spirit  and  the  tech- 
nique of  these  stories,  and  to  my  sister,  Mabel  G. 
Chandler,  for  assistance  in  correction. 


KATHERINE  CHANDLER 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA 
May,   1905 


CONTENT5 


THE  FROG  AND  THE  COYOTE 3 

i3|   THE  CREATION  OF  THE  WORLD 7 

A    How  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED  LIGHT 14 

Q    THE  BIG  FROG  AND  THE  LITTLE  FROGS    ....  21 

A    How  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED  FIRE 24 

j6   THE  ANT  AND  THE  SNOW 31 

fo  THE  CRICKET  AND  THE  COUGAR 34 

O  WHY  THE  MOSQUITO  HATES  SMOKE 38 

WHY  THE  SNAKES  CHANGE  THEIR  SKINS  ....  43 

WHY  THERE  IS  ONLY  ONE  SOUTHWEST  WlND     .     .  47 

THE  Fox  AND  THE  COYOTE 56 

THE  FROG  IN  THE  MOON 59 

How  THE  ANIMALS  GOT  THEIR  COLORS     ....  63 

THE  RACCOON  AND  THE  MAN-OF-TAR 70 

OLD  DEER  AND  OLD  GRIZZLY 76 


xii  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

"  THE  ROBIN  AND  THE  SALMON  BERRY 85 

How  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED  SALMON 95 

WHY  THE  TICK  is  NOW  SMALL 100 

WHY  THE  SUN  TRAVELS  REGULARLY 105 

THE  SUBJUGATION  OF  THE  THUNDERBIRD  .  .  .  .109 

/\  WHY  THE  BAT  is  BLIND 114 

WHY  THE  OWL  EATS  ONLY  SMALL  CREATURES.  .  118 
WHY  THE  DEAD  DO  NOT  COME  BACK 125 

A   COYOTE'S  RIDE  ON  A  STAR 132 

Pt  THE  CREATION  OF  MAN 136 

WHY  THE  COYOTE  is  so  CUNNING 142 

A  THE  STORY  OF  THE  PLEIADES 148 


GLOSSARY  OF  CALIFORNIA  TERMS 157 

INDEX 159 


IN  THE  REIGN  OF  COYOTE 


THE  FROG  AND  THE  COYOTE 

HEN  Dona  Juanita  was  a  tiny  girl  like 
you,  Mabel,  and  Don  Antonio  was  a 
little  boy  like  you,  Joe,  they  lived  on 
a  large  ranch  across  the  bay  from  San 
Francisco.  They  had  no  school  to 
"3  attend,  and  they  saw  other  white  children 
only  at  Christmas,  or  Easter,  or  Saint 
Francis'  Day,  or  some  other  such  great  feast  time. 
They  had  their  lessons,  of  course,  —  book  lessons, 
which  were  not  long  enough  to  weary  them ;  riding 
lessons,  which  carried  them  over  the  hills  many 
hours  a  day ;  and  music  lessons,  which  consisted 
in  practicing  guitar  and  violin  accompaniments  to 
the  sweet  old  Spanish  songs.  In  addition,  Juanita 
was  taught  all  kinds  of  needlework,  from  plain  hem- 
ming to  the  finest  embroidery.  As  for  amusements, 
they  played  dancing  games  with  each  other  and  with 
the  children  of  the  Indian  servants,  and  they  listened 

3 


IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 


to  the  stories  that  Tecla,  their  nurse,  old  Klayukat, 
the  saddler,  and  Wantasson,  the  blacksmith,  de- 
lighted to  tell. 

There  was  a  rivalry  among  these  three  story- 
tellers, for  they  came  from  different  tribes,  and  the 
legends  of  their  people  were  not  the  same. 

Tecla  was  from  Baja,  or  Lower,  California,  where 
Juanita  and  Antonio's  mother  had  once  lived.  Old 
Klayukatjs  tribal  home  was  to  the  far  north,  at  Puget 
Sound.  He  had  been  brought  down  by  a  king's 
vessel  and  given  into  the  charge  of  the  padres  at 
the  mission  of  San  Francisco  d'Assisi.  There  he 
had  become  a  Christian  and  had  been  taught  the 
saddler's  trade.  He  had  been  employed  by  the  chil- 
dren's grandfather  ever  since  their  father  was  a  little 
boy.  Wantasson  was  from  Alta  California,  which 
is  the  California  that  now  belongs  to  the  United 

•  ~~ «J  _^ 

States.  Before  he  had  become  Christianized  at  the 
mission,  he  had  wandered  about  and  so  knew  stories 
from  the  different  tribes  of  the  country. 

To  Juanita  and  Antonio  it  mattered  little  from 
what  places  the  stories  came,  —  whether  from  the 
northern  Oregon  Country,  Baja  California,  or  their 
own  Alta  California.  All  the  tales  were  fascinating 
to  them,  and  they  were  always  eager  to  do  any 
favor  for  Wantasson,  Klayukat,  or  Tecla  in  the 
hope  of  winning  a  story  in  return. 


THE   FROG  AND   THE   COYOTE  5 

One  hot  day  the  children  and  Tecla  were  lying 
under  the  big  oak  tree  by  the  spring,  when  they 
saw  a  small  green  frog  hop  among  the  little  yellow 
water  flowers  which  we  call  "brass  buttons." 

"  Did  I  ever  tell  you  the  story  of  the  frog  and 
the  coyote  ?  "  asked  Tecla. 

"  Oh,  no ;  please  tell  it  now" ;  and  Juanita  clapped 
her  hands. 

"  Do  tell  it,  my  good  Tecla,"  added  Antonio. 
(Spanish  Californian  children  were  trained  to  be 
always  polite  to  their  elders,  no  matter  what  social 
position  these  occupied.) 

"  Well,  sit  still,  thou  restless  Nita,  and  I  will 
tell  it  as  my  godfather  told  it  to  me." 


One  day  the  coyote  found  a  frog  in  the  road, 
and  said,  "  Now,  I  shall  eat  you  up." 

The  frog  replied :  "  Oh,  don't  eat  me  to-day, 
Brother  Coyote.  Let  us  run  a  race  to-morrow, 
and  if  you  win,  then  you  may  eat  me." 

The  coyote  said,  "All  right." 

Then  the  frog  went  to  see  his  frog  friends,  and 
said,  "  I  am  going  to  run  a  race  with  the  coyote 
to-morrow,  from  the  spring  to  the  elder  tree  and 
back,  and  if  he  wins,  he  is  to  eat  me." 

"  Ha,  ha !  Of  course  he  will  win,"  laughed  his 
friends. 


IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 


"  Not  if  you  will  help  me,  as  friends  should,"  said 
the  frog.  "  One  of  you  go  to  the  turning  stake  and, 
when  you  see  the  coyote  coming,  give  three  jumps 
to  show  him  that  you  are  ahead.  I  will  stay  near  the 
home  stake  and  jump  in  ahead  of  him  when  he  is 
coming  back. "  The  frog's  friends  agreed  to  help  him. 

The  next  day  the  coyote  came  to  run  the  race. 
The  frog  was  there,  and  at  the  appointed  time  they 
both  started,  but  the  frog  gave  only  three  jumps 
and  then  lay  down  on  the  grass  to  rest.  The 
coyote  ran  very  fast ;  and,  as  he  did  not  see  the 
frog,  he  thought  him  far  behind.  As  he  neared 
the  turning  post,  he  saw  the  frog  jump  three 
times  in  front  of  him. 

"  Oh,  this  is  strange,"  said  the  coyote;  "  I  did  not 
see  you  pass  me.  But  I  will  beat  you  home." 

He  ran  as  fast  as  he  could,  but  when  he  came  in 
sight  of  the  home  stake,  there  was  the  frog  making 
the  three  last  jumps. 

Then  the  coyote  ran  away  in  disgust; 


"The  frog  was  not  a  gentleman,"  commented 
Antonio,  "for  he  was  acting  a  lie." 

"Your  Senora  Madre  calls,"  said  Tecla ;  "we 
must  go  to  her.  God  willing,  to-morrow  I  will 
tell  you  about  another  frog,  —  and  he  was  not  a 
gentleman  either." 


THE  CREATION  OF  THE 
WORLD 

IATER  that  afternoon  Antonio  wan- 
dered  to  the  blacksmith's  shop.  Wan- 
tasson  was  hammering  a  wheel  tire  into  shape. 

"Well,  young  Antonio,  have  you  minded  the 
heat  this  day?"  he  inquired,  as  he  wiped  his 
forehead  with  his  sleeve. 

"  Oh,  no,  Wantasson  ;  we  have  been  down  by 
the  spring  where  it  is  always  cool.  And  Tecla 
told  us  a  new  story.  It  was  about  the  frog  that 
raced  with  the  coyote  and  won  the  race  by  acting 
a  lie." 

"  Ugh !  That  woman  Tecla  does  not  get  her 
stories  straight.  How  could  a  frog  lie  to  Coyote  ? 
Coyote  would  know  it.  Why,  Coyote  is  the  most 

7 


8  IN  THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

cunning  of  all  the  animals.  And  all  the  other 
animals  know  it.  If  it  had  n't  been  for  Coyote 
there  would  n't  be  any  other  animals,  or  any  world, 
or  any  you,  or  any  me,  or  any  Tecla  to  tell  such 
false  stories.  Now  would  there,  young  Antonio  ?  " 

"Wouldn't  there  be  anything  without  Coyote, 
Wantasson  ? " 

"  No,  nothing ;  not  even  that  sunflower  against 
the  fence.  You  know  Coyote  made  the  world, 
don't  you  ? " 

"  Coyote  ? "  Into  Antonio's  mind  flashed  the 
words  he  had  learned  in  his  catechism,  "  God  made 
the  world"  ;  but  his  desire  for  the  story  brushed 
them  aside  for  the  mement.  "Will  you  tell  me 
how  he  made  it,  Wantasson  ? " 

"  Yes.  Wait  until  I  put  this  tire  to  cool ;  then 
I  will  rest  awhile  and  tell  it  to  you." 

Antonio  made  a  trumpet  of  his  hands  and 
shouted:  "Nita,  Nita,  come  here.  Wantasson 
will  tell  us  a  story." 

Juanita  came  hurrying,  and  soon  the  children 
were  sitting  in  the  shadow  in  front  of  the  smithy, 
listening  to  Wantasson's  story. 


In  the  beginning  of  things  it  was  all  dark  and 
still.  There  was  no  wind  and  neither  was  there 
any  rain.  There  was  no  world  as  we  see  it  to-day. 


THE   CREATION   OF  THE  WORLD  9 

All  was  water  except  for  one  little  point  of  rock. 
On  this  rock  lived  Coyote  and  Eagle,  and  they 
were  the  only  living  things  in  the  world. 

Coyote  lay  on  the  rock  thinking.  After  a  long 
time  he  said  to  Eagle,  "  Sister  Eagle,  go  to  the  edge 
of  the  rock  and  watch  to  see  if  anything  happens." 

In  a  little  while  Eagle  called  out,  "O  Brother 
Coyote,  far  to  the  north  I  see  a  tree  rising  out  of 
the  water." 

"Very  good,"  answered  Coyote.  "That  tree 
shall  be  the  ash,  and  all  people  shall  esteem  it  for 
all  time.  Watch  again,  Sister  Eagle,  and  see 
what  now  happens." 

After  a  time  Eagle  again  raised  her  voice. 
"  Look  to  the  south,  Brother  Coyote.  There  is 
another  tree  peeping  up  out  of  the  water." 

"Very  good,"  answered  Coyote.  "That  tree 
shall  be  the  cedar.  Throughout  all  ages  all  peo- 
ple shall  delight  in  its  breath.  Watch  again, 
Sister  Eagle,  and  see  what  next  appears." 

Presently  Eagle  announced:  "  Look  to  the  south- 
west, Brother  Coyote.  Something  strange  and  red 
comes  out  of  the  water  there." 

"  Ah  !  "  exclaimed  Coyote,  "  that  must  be  land." 
He  rose  to  his  feet  and  gazed  toward  the  southwest. 

A  red  mass  was  slowly  approaching  the  place 
where  he  stood.  It  floated  up  until  it  touched 


10  IN    THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

the  point  of  rock.  It  was  land,  but  it  was  shaking 
like  a  jellyfislT>»Coyote  pressed  it  with  his  paws 
to  steady  it.  When  it  had  become  solid  and  still, 
he  looked*  over  it. 

"This  is  not  enough  land,"  he  muttered;  "we 
must  have  more." 

He  picked  up  three  pieces  of  rock  and  two 
clumps  of  earth.  He  threw  one  piece  of  rock 
and  then  listened  as  it  sank  down,  down  into  the 
depths  of  the  water.  He  threw  a  second  piece 
of  roqk  and  again  listened  as  it  went  down,  down 
through  the  water  and  struck  the  first  rock  lying 
at  the  bottom. 

"Very  good,"  he  laughed.  "Now,  third  rock, 
go  and  rest  upon  the  other  two." 

He  threw  the  third  rock  and  listened  as  it  sank 
down,  down  through  the  water  and  settled  on  top 
of  the  second  rock.  Then  he  threw  in  the  two 
clumps  of  earth,  one  at  a  time,  and  when  the  last 
struck  the  water,  land  appeared  at  the  surface. 
Then  the  water  began  to  dash  in  great  waves  and 
to  embrace  the  land  and  to  withdraw  from  it. 

"  Very  good,"  said  Coyote.  "  Thus  shall  the 
water  always  act,  and  people  for  all  time  shall 
call  its  movements  the  tides."  That  is  why  we 
have  tides  to-day,  because  Coyote  said  it  should 
be  so. 


THE   CREATION   OF   THE    WORLD  I  i 

Coyote  looked  over  the  land  and  saw  great 
dents  on  its  surface.  "Those  do  not  please  me," 
he  said.  "They  mean  sickness.  Water,  come 
up  and  cover  over  the  land  again." 

The  water  swirled  and  hurled  itself  all  over  the 
land.  Then  Coyote  blew  softly,  saying  the  while, 
"Land,  come  up  again." 

The  land  returned.  It  still  had  great  dents  on 
its  surface.  "What!  still  sickness!"  exclaimed 
Coyote.  "  This  must  not  be.  Water,  cover  over 
the  land  again." 

Again  the  water  swirled  and  whirled  and  covered 
the  land.  Once  more  Coyote  blew  softly  on  it 
and  said,  "  Land,  come  up  again." 

The  land  reappeared,  but  again  its  surface  had 
dents  upon  it.  "  Sickness  yet ! "  and  Coyote  be- 
came angry.  "  Sickness  shall  not  remain  upon 
the  land.  Water,  cover  over  the  land  again." 

The  water  did  as  it  was  bidden,  but  when  Coyote 
called  up  the  land  again,  its  surface  was  dented  as 
before.  He  ordered  it  under  water  once  more ;  but 
for  the  fifth  time  it  remained  unchanged. 

Then,  indeed,  Coyote's  anger  was  great.  "  I 
will  try  no  more,"  he  cried.  "As  the  land  has 
chosen  sickness,  sickness  it  shall  have  for  all  time." 
That  is  why  we  have  sickness  to-day,  because 
Coyote  said  it  should  be  so. 


12  IN    THE    REIGN    OF    COYOTE 

When  Eagle  looked  over  the  land  and  saw  that 
it  was  flat,  she  said,  "  There  is  no  place  for  me  to 
perch." 

"That  is  easily  changed,"  replied  Coyote;  and 
he  rounded  up  some  little  hills. 

"  Huh !  those  are  only  footstools,"  objected 
Eagle.  "I  must  have  lofty  cliffs  for  my  perch." 

"  Well,  then,  Sister  Eagle,  make  better  ones  to 
suit  yourself,"  returned  Coyote. 

"Thank  you,  I  will,"  answered  Eagle;  and  she 
set  to  work.  She  dug  her  claws  into  the  earth 
and  scratched  up  some  mountains.  As  she  worked 
hard  over  the  task,  some  of  her  feathers  fell  out 
and  rooted  in  the  earth.  The  long  feathers  became 
trees,  —  pines,  firs,  redwoods,  and  the  other  tall 
trees ;  the  pinfeathers  grew  into  manzanita  and 
coffee  berry  and  chaparral  and  similar  shrubs ; 
while  the  down  from  her  breast  brought  forth 
poppies  and  baby-blue-eyes  and  buttercups  and 
all  the  little  flowering  plants. 

"Very  good,"  said  Coyote.  Then  he  took  two 
hairs  from  his  body.  One  he  threw  into  the  water 
and  the  other  upon  the  land.  They  both  wriggled 
about  and  writhed  themselves  out  into  two  great 
Serpents.  The  one  in  the  water  coiled  itself 
around  the  land  five  times,  so  as  to  hold  the  earth 
together.  The  Land  Serpent  twisted  itself  up  into 


THE   CREATION    OF   THE   WORLD  13 

one  of  those  dents  which  Coyote  could  not  remove 
and  breathed  out  storms  through  its  fiery  nostrils. 

Then  Coyote  pulled  out  two  other  hairs  from 
his  body  and  threw  them  upon  the  land.  They 
bunched  themselves  into  a  roll  and  then  waggled 
themselves  into  two  Dogs. 

After  that  Coyote  made  .Grizzly,  Cougar,  Ante- 
lope, Beaver,  and  all  the  other  animals.  He  made 
that  day  two  of  every  kind  of  animal  that  is  now 
on  the  earth.  And  everything  he  said  that  day  still 
holds  as  a  law.  We  still  have  earth  on  the  top  of 
the  land  and  rock  underneath,  because  Coyote  threw 
the  rocks  into  the  water  .first,  and  then  the  earth. 
All  of  Coyote's  laws  still  hold  to-day. 


"  And  if  there  had  n't  been  any  dents,  Wantasson, 
would  n't  we  have  the  measles  and  have  to  drink 
tansy  tea  ?  "  A  recent  siege  was  fresh  in  Juanita's 
memory. 

"  But  what  made  the  dents,  Wantasson  ?  "  in- 
terrupted Antonio.  "  What  made  them  when 
Coyote  did  n't  want  them  ?  " 

"You  ask  too  many  questions,  young  Antonio. 
Look  at  the  dents  in  that  wheel  tire.  They  came 
there  and  /  did  n't  want  them.  I  've  got  to  heat  it 
again  and  straighten  those  out."  And  not  another 
word  could  the  children  win  from  him  that  afternoon. 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED  LIGHT 

ATER   breakfast    the  next   morning  Antonio 
and  Juanita  were  each  given  two  nectarines 
to  eat  in  the  garden. 

"  Let 's  eat  only  one  ourselves  and  take  the  others 
to  Wantasson,"  suggested  Antonio.  "He  didn't 
feel  well  yesterday  afternoon." 

"Let's,"  agreed  Juanita.  "Then  perhaps  he'll 
become  good-natured  and  tell  us  another  story." 

"Well,  don't  ask  any  questions  at  the  end  and 
make  him  cross  again." 

"  Don't  ask  questions  yourself.  Your  question 
was  what  made  him  angry." 

14 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS   SECURED   LIGHT      15 

"  But  it  was  what  you  said  that  made  me  think 
of  the  dents.  Sh  — !  Wantasson  will  hear  us." 
As  they  were  talking,  they  had  skipped  across  the 
quadrangle  to  the  smithy. 

"  Good  morning,  Wantasson  ;  we  've  brought  you 
some  nectarines,  some  that  came  from  Santa  Clara 
yesterday,"  said  Juanita. 

No  work  could  be  so  important  as  eating  nec- 
tarines. Wantasson  sat  down  in  the  sunny  door- 
way to  devour  the  fruit.  The  children  stood  in 
the  shade  inside. 

"  You  like  the  bright  sunshine,  don't  you,  Wan- 
tasson ?  "  volunteered  Juanita. 

"  Yes,  child,  I  like  the  sunshine.  I  get  as  much 
of  it  as  I  can,  for  I  remember  that  once  the  earth 
had  no  sun  and  no  light,  and  I  don't  like  to  get 
into  those  ways." 

"  How  did  the  earth  get  the  sun  ?  We  should 
like  to  know  about  that,"  said  Antonio. 

"  Yes,  please  tell  us,"  added  Juanita. 

"  It  was  because  of  Coyote.  You  will  see  that 
Coyote  has  much  sense  and  is  not  easily  fooled,  as 
that  woman  Tecla  tells  you.  Coyote  is  a  very 
cunning  animal." 

The  children  waited  eagerly  until  Wantasson 
settled  his  shoulders  against  the  door  jamb  and 
began  his  story. 


16  IN    THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

In  the  early  days  the  earth  was  wrapped  in  dark- 
ness. The  animals  could  not  see  more  than  a  step 
in  front  of  them.  They  were  always  bumping  into 
each  other,  and  they  had  bruises  all  over  their  bodies. 
Their  limbs  were  growing  stiff  through  lack  of  exer- 
cise ;  yet  no  one  dared  to  run  for  fear  of  colliding  with 
some  other  animal.  They  just  groped  about  with 
staring  eyes,  trying  to  see  what  was  ahead  of  them. 

One  day  Coyote  was  thinking  hard  as  he  walked 
and  forgot  to  peer  into  the  darkness.  Suddenly 
his  head  banged  into  somebody  moving  fast  toward 
him.  He  fell  back  and  saw  lights  dancing  up  and 
down  before  his  eyes. 

"  Caw-hou!  "  came  Hawk's  voice.  "  My  head  is 
split.  Oh,  this  terrible  darkness !  I  wish  we  had 
some  way  of  seeing  how  to  get  about.  Oh,  my 
poor  head  is  split !  " 

"And  my  poor  head,  too,"  rejoined  Coyote. 
"  You  're  not  hurt  worse  than  I.  Lights  are 
dancing  up  and  down  before  my  eyes." 

"  Is  that  you,  Coyote  ?  You  can't  be  hurt  so 
much  as  I,  for  you  are  heavier.  If  you  have  lights 
dancing  before  you,  why  don't  you  catch  them  and 
hang  them  up  to  give  us  all  light  ?" 

"The  lights  are  gone  now,"  answered  Coyote, 
"but  your  thought  is  a  wise  one.  Let  us  see 
what  we  can  do." 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED   LIGHT      17 

He  thought  for  a  long  time.  Then  he  said, 
"  Wait  here  for  me." 

He  groped  his  way  down  to  a  swamp  and  gath- 
ered a  bunch  of  dry  tules.  He  picked  up  a  piece 
of  flint  and  wrapped  the  tules  around  it,  making  a 
ball.  Then  he  groped  his  way  back  to  the  waiting 
Hawk. 

"  Here,  Sister  Hawk,  take  this  in  your  bill  and 
fly  as  high  as  you  can.  When  you  are  too  tired  to 
go  further,  give  it  a  twist  and  throw  it  up  higher. 
As  you  toss  it,  say,  'Give  us  light,  O  Tules. 
Deliver  us  from  darkness,  O  Flint.'  Then  you 
may  come  back." 

"All  right,"  answered  Hawk,  and  she  flew,  and 
flew,  and  flew,  straight  up  into  the  darkness,  until 
her  wings  could  not  lift  her  body  one  stroke  more. 
Then  she  gave  the  ball  a  twist  and  threw  it  above 
her.  "  Give  us  light,  O  Tules.  Deliver  us  from 
darkness,  O  Flint,"  she  murmured  in  a  faint  voice. 

The  ball  spun  upward.  As  it  left  her  bill,  it 
grew  bright.  It  sent  out  more  and  more  light  as 
it  sped,  until  finally  it  became  the  great  golden  Sun. 
Hawk's  eyes  were  blinded.  She  drooped  her  head 
upon  her  breast  and  sank  down  to  the  earth. 

There  the  animals  were  all  sitting  still  in  amaze- 
ment. They  covered  their  eyes  with  their  paws. 
They  did  not  know  what  to  do.  After  a  while 


"  Hawk  flew  straight  up  into  the  darkness  " 
18 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED  LIGHT       19 

Coyote  said:  "You  grumbled  over  the  darkness. 
Now  I  have  given  you  light.  We  will  call  this 
light  the  sun.  Henceforth  no  animal  shall  bump 
into  his  brother,  and  you  will  no  longer  suffer  from 
bruises." 

Turning  to  Hawk,  Coyote  continued :  "  You 
have  done  well,  Sister  Hawk.  Let  us  do  more. 
Let  us  make  another  sun  so  that  this  sun  can 
rest  sometimes." 

"  All  right,"  answered  Hawk. 

Coyote  ran  to  the  swamp  and  hastily  gathered 
an  armful  of  tules.  He  took  a  piece  of  flint  for 
a  center  and  wound  the  tules  into  a  ball.  Then 
he  sped  back  to  Hawk. 

"  You  need  not  fly  so  high  this  time,  Sister 
Hawk,  but  take  it  far  enough  away  from  the  world 
so  that  it  will  not  burn  us." 

"  Very  well,"  answered  Hawk  ;  and  she  flew  and 
flew,  straight  up,  until  she  was  tired.  Then  she 
rested  a  moment.  As  she  cast  the  ball  from  her, 
she  murmured,  "Give  us  light,  O  Tules.  Deliver 
us  from  darkness,  O  Flint." 

Now  Coyote  had  hurried  so  at  the  swamp  the 
second  time  that  he  gathered  damp  tules.  There- 
fore this  second  ball  did  not  give  out  a  bright 
golden  light  as  the  other  did,  but  sent  down  pale 
silver  rays. 


20  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

Coyote  looked  at  it.  "  It  is  not  very  bright,"  he 
muttered,  "  but  it  will  be  better  than  the  darkness. 
We  will  call  it  the  moon,  and  it  shall  be  in  the  sky 
to  show  us  our  way  when  the  sun  gets  tired." 


"I  should  think  the  moon  — "  began  Juanita, 
when  Antonio  raised  his  voice  above  hers  with 
"That's  a  fine  story,  Wantasson.  Coyote  did 
have  a  lot  of  sense,  did  n't  he  ? " 

"  Yes,  Coyote  has  sense,  but  you  children  must 
run  away  now.  I  must  make  another  tire,  or  your 
Senor  Padre  will  say  that  I  don't  work  enough,  as 
he  did  yesterday." 


I 


THE  BIG  FROG  AND  THE 
LITTLE  FROGS 

HAT  afternoon,  as  Tecla  was  dressing  the 
children  after  their  siesta,  they  clamored 
for  the  other  frog  story. 
"Tell  it  to  us  now,  please,  Tecla." 
"  Impatient  ones  !    Shall  I  waste  the  little  breath 
this  hot  sun   leaves  me  ?    No,  no ;   let   us  go  to 
the  spring  first,  and  then  if  you  are  good,  we  will 
see  what  I  can  remember." 

When  they  were  settled  in  the  oak's  cool  shade, 
she  told  them  the  promised  story. 


Once  there  was  a  long,  long  rain,  and  all  the 
ground  was  wet.  Three  little  frogs  crept  into  a 
hole  to  keep  themselves  dry.  After  a  while  a  big 
frog  came  along,  looked  in,  and  said,  "  Come,  come, 
what  are  you  doing  in  there  ? " 

"We  came  in  here  so  that  we  shouldn't  get 
drowned,"  answered  the  little  frogs. 


22  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"  I  don't  want  to  get  drowned,  either ;  so  let  me 
in,  too." 

"Well,  come  in,  Big  Frog";  and  they  huddled 
together  to  make  room  for  him. 

The  big  frog  came  in.  In  a  little  while  he 
took  a  big  breath  and  puffed  out  his  sides. 

The  little  frogs  all  cried,  "Oh,  don't  do  that. 
You  are  squeezing  us." 

The  big  frog  said  nothing,  but  after  a  while  he 
again  took  a  long  breath  and  puffed  out  his  sides 
still  more. 

Then  the  little  frogs  cried,  "  Oh,  oh !  you  are 
squeezing  us  so  that  we  can't  stand  it." 

The  big  frog  answered,  "  Well,  if  you  don't  like 
it  in  here,  Young  Frogs,  you  'd  better  get  out "  ; 
and  he  took  another  big  breath  and  squeezed  the 
little  frogs  so  hard  that  they  were  pushed  out  into 
the  cold  rain. 

"And  did  the  poor  little  frogs  have  to  stay  out 
in  the  rain  all  day? "  asked  Juanita. 

"Oh,  that  didn't  hurt  them!"  answered  her 
brother.  "  Frogs  are  always  crying  for  rain,  and 
when  it  does  n't  come  they  find  a  creek  or  a  spring. 
See  that  one  now  in  the  brass  buttons.  Just  watch 
me  hit  him."  But  Antonio's  carefully  aimed  acorn 
missed  the  shining  little  green  coat. 


THE  BIG  FROG  AND  THE  LITTLE  FROGS     23 

"  O  Tonio !  "  began  Juanita,  when  Tecla  fright- 
ened away  her  words  by  exclaiming,  "  See  that 
little  black  ant  on  your  skirt,  Nita.  I  wonder  if 
he  is  coming  from  the  blacksmith's." 

"  From  the  blacksmith's  ?  From  Wantasson's  ? 
Why  would  an  ant  be  at  a  blacksmith's  ? "  • 

"  I  know  one  ant  that  went  to  a  blacksmith,  and 
it  was  fortunate  for  him  that  he  did.  My  godfather 
told  me  about  him." 

"  Oh,  tell  us  about  it,  Tecla  !  Tell  it  just  the  way 
your  godfather  told  it  to  you." 

"No  more  to-day.  To-morrow  I  will  tell  you, 
but  now  you  can  ask  your  blacksmith  for  a  story. 
I  shall  take  a  nap  here.  I  have  to  rest  some  time." 

Finding  it  hopeless  to  persuade  her,  the  children 
wandered  back  to  the  quadrangle. 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS 
SECURED  FIRE 

Antonio  and  Juanita 
found  Wantasson  hard  at  work. 
As  he  saw  them,  he  dropped  his 
•'•      tools  and  sat  down  in  the  door- 
way.    He  was  evidently  glad  of  an 
excuse    to    rest,    so    Antonio    made 
good  use  of  the  opportunity. 

"Wantasson,  do  you  know  a  good  story  about 
a  frog?" 

"  A  good  story  about  a  frog  ?  "  The  words  came 
slowly.  "  Well,  I  know  a  story  about  a  good  frog. 
Would  you  like  to  hear  it  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  that 's  why  we  came,"  explained  Juanita, 
as  she  and  her  brother  settled  themselves  on  the 
stones  in  front  of  the  door. 

Wantasson  grunted  a  moment,  found  a  comfort- 
able position  for  his  shoulders,  and  then  began  his 
tale. 


HOW  THE   ANIMALS   SECURED    FIRE       25 

A  long,  long  time  ago  all  the  fire  on  the  earth 
was  owned  by  two  old  women.  They  kept  it  in 
a  little  mat  house  and  would  not  let  a  spark  escape. 
The  animal  people  were  shivering  with  cold  and 
were  sick  from  their  raw  food,  so  they  journeyed 
two  moons  to  the  little  mat  house  and  begged  the 
old  women  to  give  them  a  firebrand. 

But  the  old  women  only  muttered,  "  No,  no," 
and  crouched  closer  to  their  fire. 

Then  the  animals  begged  earnestly : "  Oh,  lend  us 
a  brand  just  for  a  few  minutes.  Our  teeth  are  chat- 
tering, and  our  stomachs  refuse  the  uncooked  meat. 
We  pray  you,  Old  Women,  lend  us  a  firebrand." 

But  the  old  women  still  muttered,  "  No,  no," 
and  hugged  their  fire  closer. 

Then  the  animals  piled  all  their  treasures  to- 
gether, —  shells  from  the  seashore,  cones  from  the 
mountains,  bows  from  the  oak  tree,  and  arrows 
from  the  volcanic  region.  They  carried  them  to 
the  old  women's  door.  "  Old  Women,"  they  cried, 
"here  are  all  our  treasures.  Take  them  and  give 
us  one  burning  fagot." 

Still  the  old  women  muttered,  "No,  no,"  and 
covered  their  fire  with  their  stooping  bodies. 

The  animals  went  shivering  home.  They  found 
Coyote  and  besought  him  to  think  of  some  way  to 
get  them  fire. 


26  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

Coyote  thought  and  thought.  Then  he  said  :  "  It 
will  be  a  hard  struggle  to  get  it  safe  to  our  own 
country.  Summon  every  animal  and  then  station 
yourselves  along  the  route  to  the  old  women's 
house,  each  one  a  half  sun's  distance  from  the 
other.  The  strongest  and  swiftest  must  stand 
nearest  the  little  mat  house.  Let  each  one  be 
ready  to  run  swiftly  in  his  turn  with  the  firebrand. 
Bear  will  hide  himself  outside  the  old  women's 
home.  I  will  go  in.  When  I  signal  to  him,  he 
will  make  a  rush  and  frighten  them." 

Coyote  went  to  the  little  mat  house  and  knocked 
at  the  door.  The  old  women  opened  it.  "  Good 
morning,"  said  Coyote  in  his  politest  voice.  "  May 
I  come  in  and  warm  my  feet  ?  They  are  very  cold." 

The  old  women  muttered,  "Yes,  yes." 

When  Coyote's  toes  were  all  flexible  again,  he 
coughed.  Bear  rushed  in  with  a  growl  and  dashed 
toward  the  old  women.  As  they  tried  to  protect 
themselves,  Coyote  snatched  a  blazing  brand  and 
fled. 

But  the  old  women  were  swift  of  foot,  and  as 
Coyote  ran  on  with  lolling  tongue  and  panting 
breath,  they  sped  after  him.  Just  as  he  was  begin- 
ning to  slacken  his  pace,  he  reached  Panther. 

Panther  seized  the  brand  and  bounded  onward. 
The  old  women  followed  close.  As  Panther  began 


Bear  will  hide  himself  outside  the  old  women's  home 

27 


28  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

to  get  weary,  he  arrived  at  Elk's  station.  Elk 
speeded  like  the  wind,  but  still  the  old  women  fol- 
lowed close  behind.  Then  Fox  carried  the  stolen 
fire  on  a  space,  and  so  in  turn  the  animals  kept  up 
their  flight,  with  the  old  women  always  close  behind. 

At  last  the  firebrand  had  been  carried  from  one 
animal  to  another  across  the  cold  country  until 
bushy-tailed  Squirrel  was  reached,  and  he  was  the 
next-to-the-last  animal.  As  he  seized  the  brand,  the 
old  women  made  a  dash  at  him.  He  was  so  fright- 
ened that  he  almost  dropped  it,  and  in  catching  it 
firmly  again,  his  tail  caught  fire.  He  did  not  stop, 
but  ran  on  with  the  brand  in  his  mouth.  He  curled 
his  tail  over  his  back,  and  it  burned  a  black  place 
between  his  shoulders.  Down  to  this  very  day  the 
squirrel  has  a  black  spot  between  his  shoulders. 

When  Squirrel  could  run  no  more,  he  tossed  the 
brand  to  the  last  animal  in  the  line.  This  was 
poor  little  squatty  Frog.  He  never  was  much  of 
a  runner,  but  he  did  his  best,  hopping  frantically 
along.  The  rough  stones  cut  all  his  tail  away ;  yet 
he  managed  to  reach  the  bank  of  the  river,  on 
the  other  side  of  which  lay  the  animals'  country. 
Here  the  old  women  overtook  him  and  tried  to 
snatch  both  the  brand  and  poor  Frog.  The  brand 
had  dwindled  down  to  a  tiny  spark  during  this  long 
race,  so  Frog  just  swallowed  it  and  dived  into  the 


HOW  THE   ANIMALS    SECURED    FIRE       29 

river.  He  swam  under  water  to  the  other  side 
and  there  spat  out  the  fire  on  pieces  of  wood. 

Poor  Frog  !  He  suffered  in  the  struggle.  Never 
since  that  day  has  his  tail  grown  again.  Then,  too, 
the  brand  burned  away  one  of  his  vocal  chords,  SCK 
that  he  no  longer  rivals  the  birds  as  he  once  did. 
That  is  why  he  dislikes  fire  and  even  to  this  day 
keeps  far  away  from  it. 

From  that  time  fire  has  dwelt  in  wood,  and  by 
rubbing  two  twigs  together  the  animals  can  always 
get  enough  to  make  themselves  comfortable. 


"  Oh,  what  a  good  frog  !  "  exclaimed  Juanita. 

"Yes,  he's  a  brave  fellow,"  assented  Antonio. 
"  But  can  you  always  get  fire  out  of  wood  by  rubbing 
two  sticks  together,  Wantasson  ?  If  I  should  rub 
these  two  pieces  of  wood,  would  I  get  fire  ?  "  and 
he  picked  up  two  pieces  of  firewood. 

"  You  probably  would  not.  But  my  people  start 
all  their  fires  by  twirling  wood.  Some  day  I  may 
show  you  how.  But  now  I  see  your  Sefior  Padre 
coming,  and  I  must  ask  him  about  this  work.  You 
go  to  that  woman  Tecla." 

As  they  went  off,  Juanita  exclaimed  :  "  I  don't 
care  if  frogs  don't  have  tails.  And  I  don't  think 
their  voices  are  so  bad.  Pobrecito,  to  have  his  vocal 
chord  burned  away !  How  it  must  have  hurt !  " 


30  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"  I  know  it  hurt.  I  remember  when  I  drank  the 
boiling  coffee  at  old  Santo' s.  It  just  made  my 
mouth  open,  it  burned  so.  Perhaps  that's  why 
my  voice  is  not  so  high  as  yours,  Nita.  You  never 
drank  boiling  coffee." 


THE  ANT  AND  THE  SNOW 


HE  next  day,  after  their  siesta,  the  chil- 
dren would  not  give  Tecla  any  peace 
until  she  had  told  them  the  ant  story 


she  had  promised. 

Once  a  little  ant  was  out  walking,  and  some  snow 
fell  and  hurt  its  leg. 

"  Oh,  oh  !  "  he  cried  ;  "  my  poor  leg  !  " 

"  What 's  the  matter  ?  "  asked  the  snow. 

"  Oh  !  I  have  hurt  my  leg.    Can  you  help  me  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  snow.    "Ask  the  sun.    It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  melts  me." 

So  the  ant  went  to  the  sun  and  said,  "  O  Sun,  I 
have  hurt  my  leg.    Will  you  help  me  ? " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  sun.    "Ask  the  cloud.    It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  covers  me." 

Then  the  ant  went  to  the  cloud.    "  O  Cloud,  I 
have  hurt  my  leg.    Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

31 


32  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  cloud.  "Ask  the  wind. 
It  is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  blows  me  across 
the  sky." 

The  ant  went  to  the  wind  and  said,  "  O  Wind, 
I  have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  wind.  "Ask  the  adobe. 
It  is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  stops  me." 

Then  the  ant  went  to  the  adobe.  "  O  Adobe,  I 
have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ? " 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  adobe.  "  Ask  the  mouse. 
It  is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  makes  holes  in  me." 

So  the  ant  went  to  the  mouse  and  said,  "  O 
Mouse,  I  have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  mouse.  "Ask  the  cat.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  eats  mice." 

The  ant  went  to  the  cat.  "  O  Cat,  I  have  hurt 
my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  cat.  "  Ask  the  dog.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  worries  me." 

So  the  ant  went  to  the  dog  and  said,  "  O  Dog, 
I  have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  dog.  "Ask  the  stick.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  beats  me." 

The  ant  went  to  the  stick  and  said,  "  O  Stick,  I 
have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  stick.  "  Ask  the  fire.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  burns  me." 


THE  ANT  AND   THE   SNOW  33 

Then  the  ant  went  to  the  fire.  "  O  Fire,  I  have 
hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  fire.  "  Ask  the  water.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  quenches  me." 

The  ant  went  to  the  water  and  said,  "  O  Water, 
I  have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  water.  "Ask  the  ox.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  drinks  me." 

Then  the  ant  went  to  the  ox  and  said,  "  O  Ox, 
I  have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  ox.  "Ask  the  knife.  It 
is  stronger  than  I,  for  it  kills  oxen." 

Then  the  ant  went  to  the  knife.  "O  Knife,  I 
have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  knife.  "Ask  the  black- 
smith. He  is  .stronger  than  I,  for  he  made  me." 

So  the  ant  went  to  the  blacksmith  and  said,  "  O 
Blacksmith,  I  have  hurt  my  leg.  Will  you  help  me  ? ' ' 

And  the  blacksmith  took  a  tiny  piece  of  hemp 
and  bound  up  the  leg,  and  the  little  ant  crawled 
away  home  happy.  

"  Well,  I  'm  glad  the  poor  ant  got  its  leg  fixed 
at  last,"  said  Juanita. 

"  I  '11  show  you  that  my  legs  are  stronger  than 
yours,  Nita,  by  racing  you  to  the  house"  ;  and  the 
children  were  soon  flying  up  the  hill,  with  Tecla 
following  leisurely  after  them. 


THE  CRICKET  AND  THE 
COUGAR 

NE  day  Juanita  and  Tecla  were  sew- 
ing in  the  courtyard,  while  Antonio 
lay  on  his  back  near  their  feet  watch- 
'f'//il~  ing  a  humming  bird  dart  in  and  out 

&^~    of  the  trumpet  flowers.    Suddenly  Antonio 
turned  over  and  raised  himself  to  a  sitting 
position.     "  I  wish  these  ants  would  let  a  person 
enjoy  his  own  yard,"  he  grumbled. 

That  gave  Juanita  a  thought.  "Tecla,  do  you 
know  any  more  stories  about  the  ant  ?  "  she  asked. 
"  No  more  about  the  ant,  but  I  know  one  about 
his  cousin,  the  cricket.  My  godmother  told  it  to 
me  when  I  was  smaller  than  you,  Nita.  If  you 
will  keep  on  with  your  seam  and  not  waste  your 
time,  I  will  tell  you  that  story  now." 

34 


THE  CRICKET  AND  THE  COUGAR    35 

Juanita  straightened  herself  up  in  her  chair  and 
smoothed  out  her  towel.  Then,  as  she  drew  her 
needle  in  and  out,  Tecla  told  them  the  story. 


One  day  the  cougar  was  out  walking  in  the  woods. 
As  he  was  stepping  near  an  old  rotten  log,  he 
heard  a  tiny  voice  say,  "Oh,  please  don't  step 
there.  That 's  my  house,  and  with  one  step  more 
you  will  destroy  it." 

The  cougar  looked  down  and  saw  a  little  cricket 
sitting  on  the  log.  He  roared,  "And  is  it  you, 
weak  little  creature,  that  dares -to  tell  me  where 
to  step?  Don't  you  know  that  I  am  king  of  the 
beasts  ?  " 

"  You  may  be  king  of  the  beasts,  but  I  am  king 
of  my  house,  and  I  don't  want  you  to  break  it 
down,  king  or  no  king." 

The  cougar  was  amazed  at  such  daring.  "  Don't 
you  know,  you  weakling,  that  I  could  kill  you  and 
your  house  and  all  your  relatives  with  one  blow  of 
my  paw  ? " 

"  I  may  be  weak,  but  I  have  a  cousin  no  bigger 
than  I  am,  who  can  master  you  in  a  fight." 

"  O-ho  !  o-ho  !  "  laughed  the  cougar.  "  Well, 
little  boaster,  you  have  that  cousin  here  to-morrow, 
and  if  he  does  not  master  me,  I  '11  crush  you,  and 
your  house,  and  your  cousin  all  together." 


"  The  next  day  the  cougar  came  back  to  the  same  spot ' 
36 


THE  CRICKET  AND  THE  COUGAR    37 

The  next  day  the  cougar  came  back  to  the  same 
spot  and  roared,  "  Now,  boaster,  bring  on  your 
valiant  cousin." 

Pretty  soon  he  heard  a  buzzing  near  his  ear. 
Then  he  felt  a  stinging.  "  Oh,  oh  !  "  he  roared,  "  get 
out  of  my  ear ! "  But  the  cricket's  cousin,  the 
mosquito,  kept  on  singing  and  stinging. 

With  every  sting  the  cougar  roared  louder  and 
scratched  his  ear  and  jumped  around;  but  the 
mosquito  kept  on  stinging  and  singing. 

The  cricket  sat  on  the  log  and  looked  on.  At 
last  he  said,  "  Mr.  Cougar,  are  you  satisfied  to 
leave  my  house  alone  ?  " 

"  Yes,  anything,  anything,"  groaned  the  cougar, 
"if  you  will  only  get  your  cousin  out  of  my  ear." 

So  the  cricket  called  the  mosquito  off,  and  then  the 
cougar  ran  away  and  never  bothered  them  any  more. 


"  Once  a  flea  got  into  my  ear,"  broke  in  Antonio, 
eagerly,  "and  I  was  almost  crazy  until  mamma 
put  some  warm  oil  in  and  drowned  the  flea  out." 

"  Yes,  I  can  remember  how  you  cried,"  said  his 
sister. 

"  No,  you  can't.  You  were  too  little  then.  And 
you  'd  cry,  too,  with  a  flea  thundering  in  your  ear." 

"  You  may  put  up  your  sewing  now,  Nita,"  said 
Tecla,  "and  play  until  supper  time." 


WHY  THE  MOSQUITO 
HATES  SMOKE 

HAT  same  day  the  children  were  passing 
the  saddler's  shop,  where  Klayukat  sat 
on  a  whalebone  by  the  door  braiding  a 
lariat.  As  he  answered  their  greeting,  he  raised  his 
hand  to  kill  a  mosquito  on  his  forehead.  "You 
vile  mosquito ! "  he  exclaimed ;  "I  wish  I  could 
treat  you  as  Coyote  did  your  ancestor." 

The  children  stopped  short.  "  How  was  that  ? 
What  did  Coyote  do  to  the  mosquito  ? "  asked 
Antonio. 

"Tecla  told  us  about  the  cougar  and  the  mos- 
quito," interjected  Juanita,  "but  not  about  the 
coyote.  Please  tell  us  about  it,  Klayukat." 

"  Huh !  Tecla !  That  woman  does  not  know 
about  Coyote.  I  "don't  know  what  they  have  in  her 

38 


WHY  THE  MOSQUITO  HATES  SMOKE      39 

country.  You  ask  Wantasson  if  Coyote  is  not  the 
most  cunning  of  the  animals." 

"  Wantasson  has  told  us  so.  But  he  did  not  tell  us 
about  Coyote  and  the  mosquito.  Please  tell  us  that, 
Klayukat,"  and  Antonio's  voice  dropped  into  its 
most  pleading  tones. 

"  Wait  until  I  get  some  more  leather,  and  then 
as  I  braid  the  lariat  I  will  tell  you  the  story." 

The  children  seated  themselves  near  his  door- 
way. Soon  he  returned  and  sat  down  on  his  whale- 
bone. Then  he  commenced  his  work  and  his  story 
at  the  same  time. 

In  the  long,  long  ago  Mosquito  was  larger  than 
any  man  now  alive.  His  bill  was  five  feet  long,  and 
it  ended  in  a  strong  sharp  point.  He  lived  in  a 
narrow  canyon  near  a  spring. 

When  any  animal  came  for  water,  Mosquito 
would  rush  out  singing,  "  Now  I  '11  suck  you,  suck, 
suck."  He  would  stick  his  bill  through  the  animal 
and  drink  every  drop  of  blood  in  its  body.  So 
many  did  he  kill  that  there  was  weeping  in  each 
animal  home,  and  every  family  begged  Coyote  to 
find  them  relief. 

Coyote  thought  long  and  deep.  Then  he  took 
his  stone  knife  and  five  twigs,  —  one  of  hazel,  one 
of  elder,  one  of  crab  apple,  one  of  pine,  and  one  of 


40  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

oak.  With  these  he  started  to  the  canyon  where 
lived  Mosquito. 

As  he  approached  the  door,  Mosquito  buzzed  out 
in  a  very  annoying  manner :  "  Where  are  you  going  ? 
This  is  my  road.  I  don't  allow  any  one  to  pass." 

Before  he  could  get  his  bill  out  of  his  house, 
Coyote  answered  in  his  polite  way -."My  friend,  I 
see  that  you  are  very  cold  and  have  no  fire  in  your 
house.  Let  me  make  you  a  fire  so  that  you  can 
warm  yourself." 

Mosquito  was  feeling  a  little  sluggish,  and  the 
ground  looked  damp,  so  he  replied,  "Well,  make  a 
little  fire,  but  don't  be  too  long  about  it  or  I  might 
get  hungry." 

Coyote  took  the  hazel  twig  and  broke  it  in  two. 
He  twirled  the  pieces  together  and  twirled  them 
again,  but  no  blaze  came.  "  Bah  !  "  he  exclaimed, 
"do you  send  all  your  heat  into  your  nuts,  foolish 
wood  ? "  and  he  threw  the  hazel  aside. 

Next  he  took  the  elder  twig  and  broke  it  in  two. 
He  twirled  the  pieces  together  long  and  rapidly 
and  yet  no  spark  was  emitted.  "  Bah  !  "  he  cried, 
"  do  you  send  all  your  heat  to  your  berries,  foolish 
wood  ? "  and  he  cast  the  elder  aside. 

Then  he  took  the  twig  of  crab  apple  and  broke 
it  in  two.  He  twirled  and  twirled  these  pieces  to- 
gether, but  they  showed  no  sign  of  fire.  "  Bah  !  "  he 


WHY  THE  MOSQUITO  HATES  SMOKE       41 

sneered,  "  do  you  send  all  your  heat  to  your  fruit, 
foolish  wood  ? "  and  he  threw  the  crab  apple  aside. 

Then  he  took  the  pine  and  the  oak  and  twirled 
them  together.  In  a  short  time  a  tiny  flame  burst 
forth,  and  soon  Coyote  had  a  big  fire  blazing  right 
in  front  of  Mosquito's  door. 

Mosquito  spread  out  his  hands  to  warm  himself 
and  shut  his  eyes  in  enjoyment.  Coyote  threw  an 
armful  of  rotten  wood  on  the  fire  in  order  to  smother 
the  blaze  with  smoke.  Then  Coyote  turned  the 
smoke  drift  into  Mosquito's  face.  Mosquito  could 
not  catch  his  breath  and  lay  down  on  the  ground. 

Coyote  jumped  on  his  head  and  cried:  "You 
shall  not  kill  any  more.  You  have  been  a  terror  to 
everybody,  but  now  your  power  is  gone.  I  am 
going  to  split  your  head  open.  From  it  shall  come 
a  tiny  race.  They  may  fly  about  people's  faces, 
and  annoy  them,  and  take  a  little  blood,  but  never 
may  they  kill." 

With  one  tremendous  stroke  of  his  stone  knife, 
Coyote  cleft  the  giant's  head.  Out  poured  myriads 
of  tiny  buzzing  creatures.  They  still  exist  to-day, 
always  near  some  water.  They  still  remember  their 
great  ancestor.  They  buzz  around  trying  to  threaten 
as  he  did;  they  suck  blood  from  every  animal ;  and 
recollecting  how  he  met  his  death,  they  flee  before 
a  smoke. 


42  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

The  children's  attention  to  the  story  had  been 
interrupted  by  the  visitation  of  several  mosquitoes. 

"  These  are  bad  enough,"  exclaimed  Antonio. 
"  What  must  such  a  big  mosquito  have  been  like  !  " 

"  But,  Klayukat,  there  is  no  water  here.  So 
why  are  there  mosquitoes  here  ? "  asked  Juanita. 

"  Here  at  your  Senor  Padre's  house  there  is  no 
water,  but  over  the  hill  is  there  not  the  lagunita  ? 
There  the  mosquitoes  breed,  and  from  there  they 
come  over  the  hill  to  bother  us  sinful  mortals. 
Ugh !  They  are  sent  by  the  devil  to  try  our  souls  "  ; 
and  Klayukat  slapped  his  head  with  his  two  hands. 

"Are  they  all  afraid  of  smoke,  Klayukat?" 
inquired  Juanita. 

"  Every  one  of  them  will  flee  before  smoke. 
They  are  all  afraid  of  it,"  answered  the  old  man. 

"  Then  why  don't  we  have  a  big  fire  and  lots  of 
smoke,  and  keep  them  away  all  the  time  ? "  asked 
Antonio. 

"That,  young  Antonio,  is  for  you  to  ask  your 
Senor  Padre." 

"  Let 's  go  to  him  now,"  cried  Juanita.  "  Hurry, 
I  hear  these  mosquitoes  singing,  '  I  '11  suck  your 
blood,  suck,  suck  ! '  Don't  you  hear  them,  Tonio  ? 
Oh,  Tonio,  let 's  run  ";  and  she  led  the  race. 


WHY  THE  SNAKES 

CHANGE  THEIR  SKINS 

|NE  day  as  the  children  were  passing 
Klayukat's  shop,  they  saw  him  oiling 
a  rattlesnake's  skin. 

"  Oh,  what  a  big  snake ! "  and  Juanita  shud- 
dered. 

"  Did  you  kill  it  ?  How  many  rattles  did  it  have  ? " 
questioned  Antonio. 

"  Twelve  rattles.  Yes,  I  killed  it  last  evening 
over  near  the  quarry." 

"My!  I'll  never  go  near  there  any  more";  and  Jua- 
nita puckered  up  her  face  into  a  hundred  wrinkles. 
"Oh,  rattlers  will  not  hurt  you ! "  Antonio  assured 
her.  "They  always  ring  their  rattles  in  time  for 
you  to  get  out  of  their  way.  What  are  you  going 
to  do  with  the  skin,  Klayukat  ?  " 

"  It  is  to  hold  medicine.  I  shall  oil  it  many  times, 
and  then  it  will  always  keep  soft  and  whole.  It 
will  not  crumble  like  the  skins  the  snakes  have 
cast  off  and  you  find  on  the  ground." 

43 


44  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

"  Do  snakes  cast  off  their  skins  ?  " 

"  Did  you  not  know  that,  young  Antonio  ? " 
queried  the  old  Indian  in  surprise.  "  Yes,  they 
throw  off  their  skins  when  they  need  new  ones. 
That  is  the  law  since  the  old  times.  Did  you 
never  hear  why  the  rattlesnake  changes  its  skin  ?  " 

"No.  Why?  Please  tell  us,  Klayukat."  Even 
Juanita  edged  nearer  the  snake  skin. 

Klayukat  went  on  rubbing  the  skin,  up  and 
down,  up  and  down,  and  his  words  kept  rhythmic 
measure  with  his  hands. 


A  long  time  ago  an  old  witch  went  to  an  eagle's 
nest  while  he  was  away  from  home.  She  grabbed 
his  older  son  by  the  neck  and  sucked  his  blood, 
every  drop.  She  grabbed  his  younger  son  by  the 
neck  and  sucked  his  blood,  every  drop.  Then  she 
flew  down  to  earth. 

When  Eagle  returned  home,  he  called  to  his 
children.  There  was  no  answer.  He  looked  in 
the  nest.  There  were  the  two  lifeless  bodies. 
"  Ah  me !  ah  me  ! "  he  cried.  "  Who  has  done 
this  awful  deed  ? "  He  wheeled  around  in  the 
air  to  see  what  creature  was  guilty.  He  saw  all 
the  animals  busy  with  their  own  affairs ;  but  down 
in  the  pine  forest  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  old 
witch  hiding  among  the  needles. 


WHY  SNAKES  CHANGE  THEIR  SKINS     45 

"  Ah,  that  is  the  wretch  !  "  he  screamed.  "  I  '11 
have  her  blood";  and  he  swooped  down  in  the  air 
above  her. 

The  old  witch  heard  him  coming.  She  ran  as 
the  north  wind  through  the  trees  and  up  to  the 
top  of  the  rocky  cliffs.  There  a  rattlesnake  lay 
sunning  himself. 

"Save  me!"  cried  the  old  witch.  "O  Rattle- 
snake, save  me  from  the  wrath  of  Eagle." 

Rattlesnake  had  opened  his  lips  to  say  that  he 
could  do  nothing,  when  lo !  she  ran  right  into  his 
open  mouth. 

Now  Rattlesnake  liked  to  eat  all  kinds  of  young 
and  tender  creatures ;  but  when  it  came  to  old 
witches,  he  refused  to  have  them  in  his  body. 

"  Get  out  of  me  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Get  out  of 
me,  or  I  '11  pitch  you  down  the  steepest  precipice." 

The  old  witch  answered  never  a  word. 

"  Fly  out  of  me,  or  I  '11  swallow  an  eagle  to 
battle  with  you";  and  Rattlesnake  hissed  and 
threatened  and  shook  his  rattles  to  frighten  her. 

But  the  old  witch  never  stirred. 

Rattlesnake  sputtered  and  hissed,  twisted  and 
writhed,  until  at  last  he  wriggled  out  of  his  skin 
and  left  the  old  witch  in  it.  He  was  so  surprised 
to  be  rid  of  her  that  he  exclaimed,  •"  Old  Witch, 
where  are  you  ?  " 


46  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

Then  the  old  witch  in  the  skin  mocked  his  tone 
of  voice  and  said,  just  as  he  had  said,  "Old  Witch, 
where  are  you  ? " 

Ever  since  that  time  snakes  have  shed  their 
skins.  And  since  then  witches  have  lived  in 
these  old  cast-off  snake  skins,  and  if  you  talk 
near  one  of  them,  an  old  witch  will  mock  your 
words  and  voice. 

"  Did  you  ever  talk  near  an  old  snake  skin, 
Klayukat  ?  And  did  a  witch  mock  you  ?  " 
Juanita's  tones  were  awed. 

"  Let 's  try  with  this  skin.  There  was  no  mock- 
ing when  you  told  the  story,"  said  Antonio. 

"  Oh,  but  this  skin  was  not  cast  off  by  the  snake. 
I  peeled  this  off  myself.  What  you  want  is  to 
find  an  old  skin  on  the  hillside,  and  then  you  will 
see.  You  will  hear,  too."  Klayukat' s  voice  seemed 
to  come  from  the  soles  of  his  feet,  so  deep  was  it. 

"  Let 's  go  to  mamma,  Tonio "  ;  and  Juanita 
slipped  her  hand  into  her  brother's. 

"  Yes,  dinner  must  be  nearly  ready  now.  Good 
morning,  Klayukat.  Thank  you  for  the  story." 

"Good  morning,  children.  God  keep  you  safe 
until  we  meet  again." 


WHY  THERE  IS  ONLY  ONE 
SOUTHWEST  WIND 


\NE  afternoon  the  southwest  wind  was 
careering  over  the  ranch,  breaking  trees, 
harassing  cattle,  and  making  things  gen- 
erally uncomfortable.  Antonio  and  Juanita  could 
not  take  their  ride,  and  their  book  and  music  lessons 
were  over.  Tecla  was  cross  and  would  not  speak 
to  them.  She  had  neuralgia  and  went  around  with 
her  head  tied  up  in  cascara  leaves.  After  a  while 
the  children  wandered  over  to  the  saddler's  shop, 
where  they  found  the  door  closed.  They  heard  a 
low  crooning  inside.  They  knocked  and  received 
a  welcoming  "  Come  in,  children." 

"  How  do  you  like  to  have  the  wind  blow  this 
way,  Klayukat  ?"  asked  Antonio,  as  Juanita  arranged 
her  mantilla  over  her  head. 

"  Oh,  very  well,  children,  very  well.  The  adobe 
is  solid  and  the  door  shuts  close.  I  remember 

47 


48  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

that  once  there  were  five  southwest  winds,  and  I 
am  glad  that  now  there  is  but  one.  Who  can  tell 
if  the  roof  could  withstand  five  such  winds  as 
this  ? " 

"  Were  there  once  five  southwest  winds,  Klayu- 
kat  ?  What  became  of  the  others?"  and  Antonio 
leaned  against  the  old  man's  knee. 

"  Is  there  only  one  wind  making  all  this  noise  ?  " 
shivered  Juanita. 

"  Only  one  southwest  wind,  Ninita.  If  there 
were  five  now,  you  could  not  walk  over  to  old 
Klayukat's  shop,  Chiquita.  Would  you  like  to  hear 
why  there  is  only  one  southwest  wind  now  ? " 

The  children's  enthusiastic  answers  were  all  the 
inspiration  old  Klayukat  needed.  He  waxed  his 
thread  and  started  into  the  story. 


In  the  early  days  of  the  earth  there  were  five 
southwest  winds.  They  were  very  active  fellows, 
and  so  there  was  seldom  an  hour  when  one  of 
them  was  not  bustling  around  the  world.  The 
animals  were  storm  tossed  so  much  that  their 
sides  were  all  bruised.  They  complained  often 
and  bitterly,  but  the  southwest  winds  only  roared 
louder  and  knocked  them  about  more  frequently. 

One  day  Blue  Jay  said:  "Let  us  make  war  on 
these  southwest  winds.  Something  must  be  done, 


ONLY   ONE   SOUTHWEST  WIND  49 

or  they  will  blow  us  to  death.  We  might  as  well 
die  fighting  them." 

"  But  how  shall  we  reach  them  ? "  asked  the 
other  animals.  "  They  slip  off  to  the  sky  when 
we  try  to  grasp  them." 

"That  will  be  easy,"  answered  Blue  Jay.  "We 
will  go  up  to  heaven  to  them.  Let  all  the  birds 
sing  their  sweetest  songs.  Then  the  sky  will 
bend  its  ear  to  listen,  and  we  will  fasten  it  to 
the  earth  and  climb  up  on  it." 

The  birds  began  to  sing,  —  Wren,  Robin,  Lark, 
Thrush,  and  all  the  others.  They  poured  forth 
so  blithe  a  chorus  that  the  sky  leaned  down  to 
listen.  Then  Nightingale  burst  into  a  silencing 
solo,  and  the  sky  dipped  down  so  low  that  its 
edge  touched  the  earth.  The  animals  hastened 
to  tie  it  to  the  earth  with  a  rope  of  reeds.  Then 
they  scrambled  up  on  it  and  climbed  up,  up,  up, 
until  they  came  near  the  home  of  the  southwest 
winds.  There  they  paused  to  plan  their  attack. 

Blue  Jay  suddenly  called  out :  "  Skate,  you  would 
better  go  back  to  earth.  You  are  so  broad  that 
you  will  surely  be  hit  with  an  arrow." 

"  Do  you  think  I  am  a  coward  ?  "  retorted  Skate. 
"  I'  m  not  afraid  of  the  winds,  nor  of  you  either,  you 
bragging  Blue  Jay.  Come  out  now,  boaster,  and 
I  '11  fight  you  a  duel "  ;  and  Skate  raised  his  bow. 


50  IN   THE    REIGN    OF    COYOTE 

"  I  '11  soon  settle  you,"  returned  Blue  Jay,  and 
he  shot  an  arrow.  Skate  turned  his  narrow  side 
and  Blue  Jay's  arrow  flew  past  him  to  the  earth. 
Then  Skate  shot  an  arrow.  As  Blue  Jay  saw  it 
coming,  he  jumped,  but  he  did  not  rise  quite  high 
enough.  The  arrow  struck  his  foot,  and  to  this 
day  he  is  not  a  swift  runner. 

"  Stop  your  quarreling,  you  foolish  things,"  called 
the  other  animals.  "  Come  and  plan  how  to  fight 
the  southwest  winds.  We  are  so  cold  out  here 
that  if  we  do  not  do  something  soon,  we  shall 
freeze  to  death." 

"  I  '11  see  if  I  can  get  a  brand  for  a  camp  fire," 
said  Beaver ;  and  he  started  out  towards  the  home 
of  the  southwest  winds.  He  was  creeping  along 
the  ditch  behind  their  house,  when  they  saw  him. 
Before  he  could  escape,  they  rushed  out  and  caught 
him.  After  they  had  killed  Beaver,  they  took  him 
into  the  house  and  laid  him  in  front  of  the  fire 
to  singe.  When  Beaver  felt  the  warmth,  he  came  to 
life  again  and  crept  out  of  the  door  with  some  of 
the  fire  hidden  under  his  fur.  Then  he  raced  to 
the  animals'  camp  and  made  them  a  fire. 

As  they  were  warming  their  toes,  they  said: 
"Some  one  must  find  a  hole  in  the  house  of  the 
southwest  winds.  You  go,  Skunk,  and  find  us  a 
hole  that  we  can  crawl  through." 


Skunk  ran  straight  down  to  the  earth,  without  telling 
the  other  animals  " 


52  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"All  right,"  answered  Skunk;  and  he  crept 
away.  When  he  reached  the  yard  of  the  south- 
west winds,  they  saw  him.  One  said:  "There  is 
Skunk.  He  has  no  right  to  be  here.  Let  us 
catch  him  and  kill  him." 

Skunk  heard  the  words.  He  was  so  frightened 
that  he  turned  and  fled.  He  ran  straight  down  to 
the  earth,  without  telling  the  other  animals  that 
he  was  going. 

The  animals  became  tired  of  waiting  for  Skunk. 
After  a  time  they  said,  "  O  Robin,  you  go  find  us 
a  hole  in  the  house  of  the  southwest  winds,  —  a 
hole  that  we  can  crawl  through." 

"All  right,"  answered  Robin;  and  she  hopped 
away.  She  found  a  little  hole  near  the  chimney 
corner  and  crept  inside  to  see  what  the  house  was 
like.  It  was  very  warm  and  comfortable  there. 
The  southwest  winds  were  sleeping,  so  she  sat 
down  by  the  fire  to  warm  her  breast  and  forgot 
to  go  back  to  her  waiting  brothers. 

After  a  time  the  animals  again  wearied  of  wait- 
ing. They  cried,  "  O  Mouse  and  Rat,  you  two  go 
and  find  a  hole  in  the  house  of  the  southwest 
winds,  —  one  that  we  can  crawl  through." 

"Very  well,"  answered  Mouse  and  Rat;  and 
they  started  off.  They  found  the  little  hole  by 
the  chimney  corner,  and  crept  inside  as  Robin 


ONLY   ONE   SOUTHWEST  WIND  53 

had  done.  The  southwest  winds  were  still  sleeping. 
Mouse  and  Rat  stole  over  to  the  aprons  of  the  winds 
and  gnawed  off  their  bands.  They  crawled  up  the 
walls  to  the  bows  of  the  southwest  winds  and  gnawed 
the  strings  in  two.  Then  they  stole  out  again  and 
called  the  other  animals  to  the  hole. 

The  animals  came  pouring  in  with  a  rush.  The 
southwest  winds  woke  up  and  stretched  out  their 
hands  for  their  aprons.  They  tried  to  tie  them 
on,  but  the  bands  were  gone.  Then  they  reached 
up  for  their  bows  and  tried  to  shoot,  but  the 
cords  were  cut.  While  they  paused  in  surprise, 
the  animals  grappled  with  them. 

Eagle  seized  one,  Owl  a  second,  Loon  a  third, 
Turkey  a  fourth,  and  Chicken  Hawk  the  fifth. 
All  the  other  animals  joined  around  the  outside, 
and  each  shot  an  arrow  into  a  wind  whenever  he 
got  a  chance.  The  southwest  wind  in  the  Eagle's 
grasp  was  soon  killed,  and  so  were  all  the  others 
excepting  the  one  with  whom  Chicken  Hawk 
wrestled.  This  fifth  wind  struggled  desperately 
and  finally  slipped  out  of  Chicken  Hawk's  grasp. 
Then  with  a  loud  noise  he  rushed  out  the  door 
and  across  the  sky. 

The  animals  pursued  him  until  Blue  Jay  called 
out :  "  We  'd  better  turn  back  to  earth.  The  wind 
might  come  back  this  way  and  cut  the  sky  loose." 


54  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

The  animals  turned  at  once  and  began  sliding 
down  the  sky  to  the  earth.  Blue  Jay  could  not  go 
very  fast  because  of  his  lame  foot,  and  a  number 
of  animals  got  ahead  of  him.  This  made  him  so 
angry  that  when  he  reached  the  earth  he  cut  the 
reed  rope,  and  the  sky  flew  up  again  before  all 
the  animals  were  down.  Those  that  were  left  in 
the  sky  changed  into  stars.  That  is  why  to-day 
we  see  the  Great  Bear,  and  the  Dog  Star,  and 
all  the  other  animal  stars. 

The  animals  never  caught  the  fifth  southwest 
wind.  Even  to-day  he  wanders  bustling  around 
the  world.  But  he  has  to  rest  sometimes,  and  so 
the  animals  get  more  peace  than  when  his  four 
brothers  were  alive  to  help  blow  them  about. 


"Didn't  the  other  animals  do  anything  to  Blue 
Jay  for  cutting  the  reed  rope  so  soon  ? "  inquired 
Juanita. 

"  I  never  heard  that  they  did.  It  is  well  that 
the  rope  was  cut,  for  now  we  have  the  Great  Bear 
to  look  at  on  dark  nights." 

"Yes;  but  perhaps  those  animals  don't  like  to 
live  in  the  sky.  Perhaps  — 

But  Antonio  interrupted  with:  "I  wish  they'd 
had  a  stronger  bird  to  fight  with  the  fifth  southwest 
wind.  Why  did  n't  they  take  a  buzzard  ?  I  think  — 


ONLY  ONE   SOUTHWEST  WIND  55 

"There  is  the  dinner  call.  /  think  you  must 
tackle  this  southwest  wind  yourself,  young  Anto- 
nio ";  and  Klayukat  "shooed"  them  out  of  his 
shop  and  limped  over  to  the  kitchen. 


THE  FOX  AND 

THE  COYOTE 

|NE  evening  the  children  were  watching 
the  full  moon  glide  up  into  the  sky 
and  were  discussing  whether  or  not  it 
was  made  of  green  cheese. 

"  The  coyote  once  got  into  trouble  by  thinking 
that  the  moon  was  cheese,"  said  Tecla,  in  her  slow, 
round  tones. 

"  How  was  that,  Tecla  ?  " 

"Yes,  Tecla,  please  tell  us.  Now  is  just  the 
time  for  a  story";  and  Juanita  buried  her  head  in 
Tecla' s  lap. 

"  Well,  you  have  been  good  children  to-day,  so  I 
will  tell  it.  Sit  down  on  the  floor,  Nita.  You  are 
too  big  a  girl  to  need  holding." 

56 


THE   FOX  AND   THE   COYOTE  57 

"  O  Tecla  !"  and  Juanita  only  snuggled  closer. 
"  Well,  keep  still  then.    Don't  wriggle,  and  I  will 
tell  you  the  story  as  my  godfather  told  it  to  me." 


One  night  the  fox  was  standing  near  a  pond, 
looking  at  the  moon's  reflection  in  the  water. 

The  coyote  came  up  and  said,  "  Now  I  am  going 
to  eat  you." 

The  fox  said:  "  Oh,  don't  eat  me  now,  Brother 
Coyote.  There  is  a  big  piece  of  cheese  in  this  pond. 
Help  me  drink  up  all  the  water,  and  then  we  will 
share  the  cheese." 

The  coyote  looked  at  the  reflection  of  the  moon 
in  the  water  and  said:  "That  is  a  fine  piece  of 
cheese.  I  will  help  you  get  it." 

So  he  drank  until  he  felt  tired,  and  still  the  pond 
seemed  full.  "  Oh,  Brother  Fox,  my  stomach  aches. 
I  can't  drink  any  more." 

"  Well,  you  stay  here,  and  I  will  run  and  get 
some  friends  to  help  us  drink  up  the  water." 

And  away  the  fox  ran,  and  although  the  coyote 
waited  for  him  all  night,  he  never  came  back. 


"  Poor  Coyote  !  "  murmured  Juanita. 

"  I  don't  believe  Coyote  thought  the  moon  was 
cheese,"  asserted  Antonio.  "  He  'd  know  the  differ- 
ence. Wantasson  says  Coyote  made  the  moon." 


58  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"  Yes,  perhaps  Wantasson  does  say  so  ;  but  you 
ask  your  Sefiora  Madre  who  made  the  moon.  You 
children  don't  want  to  believe  everything  that 
these  Digger  Indians  tell  you.  Now  Juanita  grows 
heavy,  and  your  Sefiora  Madre  calls.  It  is  time 
for  prayers." 

"Yes,  Sefiora,  we  come";  and  Tecla's  voice 
glided  up  the  scale  as  she  led  the  children  in. 


THE  FROG  IN  THE  MOON 


HE  next  morning  Antonio  said: "  I  'm 
going   to   ask   Klayukat  about    the 
moon  and  cheese.    Perhaps  he  can 
tell  us  the  truth.     Come ;  let 's  go  now." 

They  found  Klayukat  repairing  a  saddle.  "  Is 
the  moon  made  of  green  cheese?"  he  repeated 
slowly.  "  I  never  heard  it.  I  never  heard  of  cheese 
in  my  country.  You  white  people  have  many 
things  that  my  tribe  know  nothing  about.  You 
do  not  see  the  same  as  we  do,  either." 

"  Don't  see  as  you  do  ?  Why,  we  see  with  our 
eyes,  just  as  you  do  ";  and  Antonio's  big  black  eyes 
opened  wide. 

"  Yes,  you  see  with  your  eyes,  but  things  do  not 
look  the  same  to  you  as  they  do  to  us.  Now  I 
have  heard  the  white  people  say  that  there  is  a  man 
in  the  moon,  while  I  can  see,  as  plainly  as  I  see 
this  saddle  here,  that  there  is  a  frog  in  the  moon." 

59 


60  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"  A  frog  in  the  moon  ? "  the  children's  voices 
chimed. 

"  Yes,  a  frog  in  the  moon.  I  see  it  plainly. 
Besides,  my  people  know  the  story  of  how  the 
frog  got  in  the  moon." 

Klayukat  threaded  his  needle  slowly.  He  started 
his  line  of  stitches  carefully,  and  then  as  he  sewed 
he  told  this  story. 

In  the  days  of  the  ancients  the  frog  was  very 
proud  of  his  voice.  He  practiced  singing  all  day 
and  sometimes  all  night.  When  he  heard  a  bird's 
song,  he  tried  to  sing  the  same  notes. 

Most  of  the  birds  just  laughed  at  his  attempts. 
They  would  call  out,  "Good  there,  Brother  Frog! 
Now  try  this."  Then  they  would  sing  higher,  and 
trill  and  twist  their  notes  in  a  sweet  confusion. 

Poor  old  Frog  would  try  to  follow  their  songs.  He 
would  stand  on  his  tiptoes,  but  with  all  his  trying  he 
never  could  make  musical  sounds.  Still  he  never  was 
discouraged.  He  kept  on  singing  day  and  night. 

Now  Whip-poor-will  was  not  always  good-natured. 
She  liked  to  be  alone,  and  she  did  not  care  to  hear 
others  sing.  She  thought  that  no  one  understood 
music  as  she  did. 

One  night,  after  the  other  animals  were  asleep, 
she  stole  out  alone  into  the  dusk  and  began  singing  a 


THE   FROG    IN    THE    MOON  6l 

soft  tale  of  her  sorrows.  Suddenly,  from  the  spring's 
bank  she  heard  a  grating  voice  trying  to  imitate 
her  song.  She  listened.  The  voice  was  hushed. 
She  sang  a  few  more  notes,  and  again  the  voice 
tried  to  repeat  them.  She  flew  in  anger  down  to 
the  spring.  There  sat  little  green  Frog  in  his 
shining  white  vest. 

"  So  it 's  you,  you  twanging  Frog,  is  it  ? " 
demanded  Whip-poor-will.  "  Well,  if  you  like  night 
singing  so  much,  you  can  serve  as  a  light  for  me 
to  see  by."  And  she  seized  him  by  one  foot  and 
threw  him  into  the  sky.  There  he  fell  with  his 
legs  all  spread  out  and  his  shining  white  vest  turned 
toward  the  earth.  There  you  may  see  him  yet, 
still  furnishing  light  for  Whip-poor-will  to  see  by. 


' '  Oh,  the  poor  frog ! ' '  sympathized  J uanita.  "  The 
birds  up  north  seem  so  — 

"  What  kind  of  a  bird  is  the  whip-poor-will, 
Klayukat  ? "  interrupted  Antonio,  seeing  the  old 
man  look  offended.  "  Does  it  sing  like  our  lark  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,  young  Antonio.  You  must 
not  expect  an  Indian  to  know  things." 

"Oh,  but  you  do  know  things,"  insisted  both 
children.  "  You  know  beautiful  stories." 

"  I  was  only  thinking  about  the  blue  jay's  cutting 
the  rope,  and  now  this  whip-poor-will,"  explained 


62  IN   THE    REIGN    OF    COYOTE 

Juanita.  "But  I  suppose  at  other  times  these 
birds  are  good." 

"Just  like  children,  Juanita.  Sometimes  chil- 
dren obey  their  parents,  and  sometimes  they  wade 
in  the  creek." 

Juanita  hung  her  head  at  this  reminder.  Then 
she  raised  it  and  laughed.  "  We^l,  the  blue  jay  's 
a  pretty  color  anyway." 

"  Yes,  a  pretty  color.  But  I  can  tell  you  why 
he  is  not  prettier.  No,  not  now,"  as  the  children 
looked  expectant.  "  You  have  not  done  your  morn- 
ing lessons  yet.  That  Tecla  will  be  coming  here 
for  you.  Run  away  now  and  come  another  time." 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS 
THEIR  COLORS 


GOT 


HAT  same  day,  after  their  siesta,  Antonio 
and  Juanita  tripped  to  the  saddlery.  Kla- 
yukat  had  just  awakened.  He  did  not 
answer  their  questions  for  a  while,  but  busied  him- 
self with  his  work.  When  he  seemed  to  be  sewing 
regularly,  Antonio  ventured,  "Klayukat,  will  you 
tell  us  now  why  the  blue  jay  is  not  prettier  ?  " 

"The  blue  jay  ?  Yes,  and  I  can  tell  you  why  other 
things  are  not  prettier.  Give  Ninita  more  room  there, 
young  Antonio,  and  I  will  tell  you  the  story." 

In  the  days  of  the  ancients  the  animals  were  all 
the  color  of  the  earth.  They  knew  nothing  about 

63 


64  IN    THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

red,  white,  or  blue,  or  any  other  tint  but  dirt  color, 
and  so  they  were  content  with  their  clothes. 

Once  as  they  glanced  out  over  the  water,  they 
saw  a  great  big  thing  shining  in  the  sun.  They 
all  stopped  to  look  at  it.  If  they  watched  it  from 
one  point,  it  looked  blue.  If  they  walked  down 
the  beach,  it  shone  green.  If  they  walked  up  the 
sands,  it  glowed  rosy.  Whenever  they  looked  at  it 
from  a  different  position,  they  saw  some  new  hue. 

"  What  lovely  thing  is  this  ?  "  they  cried.  "  Let 
us  get  a  nearer  view  of  it." 

They  launched  their  canoes  and  rowed  towards 
it,  but  ever  it  seemed  to  move  just  as  they  did, 
and  they  never  came  nearer  to  it.  As  the  sun 
sank  in  the  water,  they  said :  "  We  must  go  home 
now.  The  lovely  thing  can  meet  the  darkness 
alone."  As  they  turned,  the  great  shining  thing 
followed  them.  It  always  kept  the  same  distance 
behind  them. 

They  were  frightened.  Then  Blue  Jay  said : 
"  Let  us  shoot  it  to-morrow.  Then  we  can  have 
its  colors."  The  other  animals  agreed,  and  they 
all  went  to  their  homes  to  sleep. 

As  the  sun  brought  back  light  to  the  world, 
the  animals  saw  the  great  thing  throwing  out  its 
beautiful  colors.  They  hurried  for  their  bows  and 
began  aiming  at  it.  They  shot  all  day,  but  their 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  GOT  THEIR  COLORS    65 

arrows  always  fell  short  of  the  thing,  or  to  the 
left  of  it,  or  to  the  right.  No  one  could  hit  it. 

Now  Blue  Jay's  two  daughters  were  not  on  the 
shore.  They  had  been  sent  into  the  woods  to  dig 
potentilla  roots.  While  they  were  digging,  the 
younger  said  to  the  older,  "  I  wish  we  could  shoot 
at  the  great  shining  thing."  The  elder  sister  went 
on  digging  with  never  a  word  in  answer.  After  a 
little  while  the  younger  sister  said  again,  "  I  wish 
we  could  shoot  at  the  great  shining  thing."  Again 
the  elder  sister  went  on  digging  without  answering 
a  word.  The  younger  sister  repeated  her  wish  a 
third  time  and  a  fourth,  and  yet  the  elder  sister 
went  on  digging  in  silence. 

When  for  the  fifth  time  the  younger  sister  had 
said,  "  I  wish  we  could  shoot  at  the  great  shining 
thing,"  the  elder  sister  stood  up  Straight  and 
replied,  "Well,  our  father  has  arrows."  Then  she 
gathered  her  potentilla  roots  into  her  basket  and 
started  home.  The  younger  sister  gathered  her 
roots  into  her  basket  and  followed. 

When  they  reached  home  at  sunset,  the  animals 
were  all  sad  at  not  having  shot  the  great  shining 
thing. 

The  next  morning  the  daughters  of  Blue  Jay 
started  for  potentilla  roots  before  their  father  was 
awake.  They  carried  off  quietly  two  of  his  bows 


66  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

and  some  arrows.  In  the  woods  they  hid  their 
baskets  and  dressed  themselves  as  strange  youths. 

When  the  other  animals  awakened,  they  went 
down  to  the  beach  to  shoot  at  the  shining  thing. 
Again  their  arrows  fell  short  of  it,  or  to  the  right, 
or  to  the  left.  Suddenly  among  them  appeared 
two  strange  youths.  The  elder  shot  an  arrow.  It 
fell  near,  but  did  not  hit  the  great  shining  thing. 
Then  the  younger  shot,  and  her  arrow  almost 
touched  the  mass  of  bright  color.  They  each  shot 
two  more  arrows.  Some  flew  so  near  the  thing 
that  the  animals  held  their  breath,  but  each  arrow 
fell  a  little  short.  Then  the  strange  youths  disap- 
peared suddenly  in  the  woods. 

That  night,  when  the  daughters  of  Blue  Jay 
carried  home  their  baskets  of  potentilla  roots,  they 
found  all  the  animals  wondering  who  the  strange 
youths  were.  Only  Blue  Jay  was  silent.  He  looked 
hard  at  his  daughters,  but  they  said  nothing. 

The  next  day,  while  the  animals  were  shooting, 
the  strange  youths  suddenly  appeared  again.  They 
each  shot  three  arrows.  All  flew  nearer  the  great 
shining  thing  than  the  arrows  of  the  other  animals, 
but  none  touched  it.  Then  the  youths  disappeared 
as  suddenly  as  they  had  come. 

The  animals  were  greatly  excited  and  wondered 
who  the  strange  youths  were.  That  night  they 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  GOT  THEIR  COLORS    67 

told  the  daughters  of  Blue  Jay  about  it,  but  the 
daughters  were  silent.  Blue  Jay,  too,  was  silent, 
and  he  looked  hard  at  his  daughters. 

On  the  third  day  the  strange  youths  appeared 
as  before.  The  elder  shot  three  arrows.  The 
younger  shot  two  that  almost  reached  the  thing. 
Her  third  arrow  pierced  the  middle  of  the  splendor. 
Then  the  two  youths  jumped  into  a  canoe  and 
rowed  out  to  the  thing.  They  dragged  it  to  the 
shore  and  carried  it  into  the  woods.  The  animals 
were  almost  crazed  with  excitement.  "  Who  are  these 
strange  youths  ? "  they  asked  each  other.  "  Where 
did  they  carry  the  great  shining  thing  ?  Why  did 
they  not  give  us  some  of  it  ?  "  That  night  they  told 
the  sisters  the  story,  but  the  sisters  were 'silent. 

The  next  morning  the  daughters  of  Blue  Jay 
awoke  early  and  went  to  take  their  bath.  While 
they  were  gone,  their  father  awoke.  He  looked 
at  his  daughters'  bed.  It  was  empty.  He  became 
very  angry.  "  Where  have  those  daughters  gone 
now  ?  "  he  stormed  aloud.  "  I  believe  they  are  the 
strange  youths.  I  shall  have  to  punish  them." 

Just  then  the  daughters  came  in.  "  Where  have 
you  been  ?  "  Blue  Jay  demanded.  "  Why  do  you 
go  out  so  early  every  morning  ?  I  believe  you  are 
the  two  strange  youths.  Tell  me,  have  you  the 
great  shining  thing  hidden  from  our  people  ? " 


68  IN  THE   REIGN  OF  COYOTE 

"  Go,  take  your  bath,  father,  and  then  we  will 
tell  you  all  about  it,"  the  daughters  answered. 

The  father  took  his  morning  dip,  and  then  the 
daughters  told  him  the  whole  story.  "  Go,  bring 
the  shining  thing  here,"  he  said,  "and  I  will  call 
the  people." 

When  Blue  Jay  had  assembled  all  the  people, 
the  daughters  came  in  from  the  woods,  carrying 
the  great  shining  thing.  They  took  a  knife  and 
cut  it  into  pieces.  They  handed  one  piece  to 
each  animal.  The  animals  ate  the  pieces  they 
received.  The  largest  of  all  they  gave  to  their 
father.  Blue  Jay  was  much  pleased.  He  held  it 
up  to  the  light  before  swallowing  it.  But  just  as 
he  was  about  to  put  it  into  his  mouth,  Clam  jumped 
up,  snatched  it  from  him,  and  ran  down  to  the 
beach. 

Blue  Jay  tried  to  catch  him,  but  Clam  hid  him- 
self in  the  sand.  Blue  Jay  took  a  stick  and  poked 
in  the  sand.  Clam  sent  up  some  boiling  water  and 
hid  himself  deeper.  Blue  Jay  became  very  angry. 
"You  thief,"  he  cried,  "you  shall  hide  in  the 
sand  all  the  days  of  your  life.  Even  when  your 
most  ardent  lover  wishes  to  see  you,  you  will  send 
up  bubbles  to  greet  him,  instead  of  words." 

And  to  this  day  Clam  lives  in  the  sand,  and  he 
still  sends  up  bubbles  to  the  surface.  But  he  has  on 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  GOT  THEIR  COLORS    69 

his  shell  all  the  colors  of  the  great  shining  thing, 
because  he  ate  the  largest  piece.  Blue  Jay  had 
only  a  little  piece  to  eat,  and  so  he  has  only  blue. 
Every  animal  became  in  color  like  the  piece  of  the 
great  shining  thing  that  he  ate,  and  he  has  that 
same  color  even  to-day. 


"Oh-oh!"  sighed  Juanita  in  content.  "Is  the 
clam  shell  in  your  country  like  the  abalone  shell 
here,  Klayukat  ?  " 

"  Much  the  same ;  much  the  same ;  the  same 
bright  colors." 

"  I  wonder  what  the  great  shining  thing  was 
made  of,"  said  Antonio.  "  Do  you  know,  Kla- 
yukat ? " 

"  Made  of  colors.  That  is  why  the  animals 
changed  colors  when  they  ate  it.  Yesterday  I 
saw  some  colors  on  the  top  of  the  little  pond  near 
the  corral." 

"  Colors  on  our  pond  ?  Oh,  let 's  go  and  see 
them,  Nita";  and  the  children  were  off  on  a  run. 


RACCOON  AND  THE 
MAN-OF-TAR 


NE  day  Antonio  was  complaining  because 
he  could  not  catch  a  squirrel  in  his  trap, 
when  Tecla  remarked:  "Traps  are  not 
any  good,  except  to  catch  silly  birds.  Ani- 
mals have  too  much  sense  to  go  into  them.  You 
know  the  old  Senora  would  never  have  caught  the 
raccoon,  if  she  had  depended  upon  traps." 

"  Did  a  Senora  catch  a  raccoon  ?  "  and  Antonio 
was  all  interest.  "  How  did  she  catch  it,  if  she 
did  n't  use  a  trap  ?  " 

"This  is  what  my  godfather  told  me  about  it." 
Tecla  sat  down  on  a  bench,  and  the  two  children 
leaned  against  her  as  she  recited  the  tale. 


Once  an  old  lady  lived  in  the  country  and  had 
a  very  pretty  garden.  One  night  a  raccoon  came 
and  helped  himself  to  her  watermelons  and  corn. 

70 


THE  RACCOON  AND  THE  MAN-OF-TAR   71 

In  the  morning  the  old  lady  said:  "  Some  rascally 
animal  has  been  at  my  garden.  I  must  set  a  trap 
to  catch  him." 

The  next  night  the  raccoon  came  again,  and  he 
saw  the  trap.  "Ah!"  cried  he,  "here  is  a  trap 
set  for  me.  But  I  will  play  a  trick  on  them.  I  will 
jump  over  it."  So  he  jumped  over  it  and  ate  all 
the  corn  and  watermelons  he  wanted. 

When  the  old  lady  found  the  trap  untouched 
and  her  corn  and  melons  gone,  she  said,  "  I  will 
set  traps  all  around  the  garden." 

But  the  raccoon  was  not  afraid  of  any  of  the 
traps.  He  jumped  over  them  all  as  easily  as  could 
be  and  had  as  much  supper  as  he  could  eat. 

The  next  morning  the  old  lady  said,  "  Well,  if 
I  cannot  catch  the  rascal  in  a  trap,  I  will  some 
other  way,"  So  she  made  a  man-of-tar  and  put  it 
in  the  garden. 

That  night  the  raccoon  looked  around  for  the 
traps,  but  there,  were  none  to  be  seen.  "Why," 
he  said,  "  they  must  be  tired  of  trying  to  catch  me." 

Then  he  saw  the  man-of-tar  and  said :  "  What 
is  this  ?  Oh,  how  do  you  do,  gentleman  ?  " 

The  man-of-tar  did  not  answer. 

"  Why  don't  you  speak  to  me  ?  Don't  you  think 
I  am  good  enough  to  speak  to  a  gentleman  like 
you  ? " 


'That  night  the  raccoon  looked  around  for  the  traps  : 


73 


THE  RACCOON  AND  THE  MAN-OF-TAR      73 

The  raccoon  waited  for  a  reply,  but  the  man-of- 
tar  said  never  a  word. 

"  If  you  don't  say,  '  How  do  you  do '  to  me,  I 
shall  hit  you";  and  he  raised  his  right  fist. 

Still  nothing  but  silence  followed  his  words. 

Then  the  raccoon  gave  a  hard  hit,  and  his  fist 
stuck  fast  in  the  tar. 

"  Let  go  !  Let  go,  or  I  '11  hit  you  with  the  other." 

The  strange  dark  man  did  not  speak,  neither  did 
he  let  the  prisoner  loose. 

So  the  raccoon  struck  with  his  left  fist,  and  it 
stuck  fast  in  the  tar. 

The  raccoon  became  very  angry,  and  his  voice 
was  loud.  "  If  you  don't  let  me  go,  I  '11  kick  you." 

The  man-of-tar  did  not  answer. 

The  raccoon  kicked  out  his  right  foot,  and  it 
stuck  fast  in  the  tar. 

"  Let  me  go  home,  I  say,  or  I  '11  kick  you  hard 
with  my  other  foot." 

The  man-of-tar  took  no  notice  of  this  threat, 
neither  by  word  nor  by  action. 

The  raccoon  kicked  out  with  the  left  foot,  and  it 
stuck  fast  in  the  tar. 

"Well,  I'd  better  not  butt  you,"  he  said,  "or 
you  might  hold  my  head  fast  and  I  could  not  call 
for  help." 

He  called  and  called,  but  no  one  came  to  help  him. 


74 


In  the  morning  the  old  lady  found  him.  She 
tied  a  rope  around  him,  hung  him  to  a  branch  of  a 
tree,  and  called  her  cats  to  come  and  eat  him.  The 
cats  were  afraid  and  would  not  touch  him,  so  she 
called  her  dog,  and  it  came  and  ate  the  raccoon. 


"  She  ought  to  have  eaten  it  herself,"  said  Antonio. 
"  Wantasson  says  raccoons  are  good  eating.  Say, 
Nita,  you  let  me  take  your  doll  to  make  a  man-of- 
tar,  and  if  I  catch  two  squirrels,  I  '11  give  you  one." 

"  My  doll !  My  doll  that  the  Good  Kings  put  in 
my  shoe!  Why,  Antonio  Guerrero,  I  '11  — 

Juanita  was  on  the  verge  of  tears  of  indignation, 
when  Antonio  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  replied  : 
"  Oh !  keep  your  old  doll.  Two  sticks  will  do  as 
well." 

Now  I  must  explain  to  Joe  and  Mabel  what 
Juanita  meant  when  she  said,  "  My  doll  that  the 
Good  Kings  put  in  my  shoe."  The  Spanish- 
Californian  children  did  not  hang  up  their  stockings 
the  night  before  Christmas  as  you  do,  nor  did  they 
have  a  Christmas  tree  as  Dorothy  does.  They  did 
not  even  receive  any  presents  on  Christmas.  That 
day  to  them  was  La  Fiesta  del  Scnor,  the  "  Feast 
of  the  Master";  and  they  spent  it  in  rejoicing  that 
Christ  had  given  himself  as  a  gift  to  the  world. 
But  during  the  Christmastide  there  came  a  day 


THE  RACCOON  AND  THE  MAN-OF-TAR      75 

when  they  did  receive  presents.  This  was  on  Little 
Christmas,  the  "  Feast  of  the  Epiphany,"  or  January 
the  sixth.  This  feast,  you  know,  is  held  in  honor 
of  the  day  on  which  the  Three  Wise  Kings  brought 
their  gifts  to  the  Infant  Jesus  in  Bethlehem. 

The  evening  before  Little  Christmas  the  Cali- 
fornian  children  placed  their  shoes  outside  the  door 
or  window,  and  the  Three  Wise  Kings  always  left 
something  in  them.  It  was  not  very  much  that  the 
Kings  left  — just  some  funny  little  twirled  candies 
with  caraway  seeds  in  them  and  some  odd  wooden 
toys.  Juanita's  doll  would  not  seem  pretty  to  you 
to-day,  Mabel,  but  she  loved  it  just  as  dearly  as  you 
do  your  Arabella  from  Paris,  and  she  was  just  as 
horrified  at  the  idea  of  turning  it  into  a  man-of-tar 
as  you  were  when  Joe  wanted  to  throw  Arabella 
into  the  pond  to  teach  Ponto  to  swim  for  her. 


•  ''  OLD  DEER  AND  OLD  GRIZZLY 

NE  day  the  ranch  was  excited  over  a 
fine  deer  that  a  herder  had  brought  in. 
In  the  late  afternoon  the  children  visited 
the  blacksmith  shop. 
In  talking  over  the  way  deer   lose  their  lives, 
Wantasson  said,    "  It   has   always  been  that   way 
ever  since  the  day  Old  Grizzly  killed  Old  Deer." 

"  When  was  that,  Wantasson  ?    Won't  you  tell 
us  about  it  ? " 

Never  reluctant  to  rest,  Wantasson  sat  down  in 
the  doorway  and  began  the  story. 


In  the  days  of  the  ancients  Old  Deer  and  Old 
Grizzly  were  good  friends  and  lived  together  in  one 
lodge.  They  each  had  two  children.  Every  morn- 
ing they  took  their  baskets  and  went  out  together 
to  dig  roots. 

76 


OLD    DEER   AND   OLD   GRIZZLY  77 

Before  leaving  home  Old  Grizzly  always  said  to 
her  cubs,  "  Do  not  skip  down  from  the  house,  or 
your  hearts  will  get  loose  in  you.  Do  not  jump 
over  logs,  or  tree  sticks  will  run  into  you.  Do  not 
dive  into  the  water,  or  it  will  rise  and  smother  you." 

The  cubs  always  answered,  "  We  will  obey  our 
mother's  orders." 

Old  Deer  never  warned  her  children  of  anything. 
She  just  said,  "Good-by,  children." 

One  morning,  while  they  were  gathering  roots, 
Old  Deer  filled  her  basket  first.  Old  Grizzly  had 
been  eating  as  she  dug.  Old  Deer  said,  "  I  'm  ready 
to  go  home  now  " ;  and  started  on.  Old  Grizzly 
grumbled,  but  she  went  home  with  Old  Deer,  and 
they  each  gave  their  roots  to  their  children. 

The  next  morning  Old  Grizzly  again  ate  the 
roots,  instead  of  putting  them  into  her  basket.  Old 
Deer  worked  steadily  and  soon  had  her  basket  full. 
When  she  started  to  go  home,  Old  Grizzly  in  jealous 
anger  sprang  upon  her  neck  and  killed  her.  She 
hung  Old  Deer's  body  in  a  tree.  Then  she  put  into 
her  own  basket  the  roots  Old  Deer  had  gathered 
and  returned  home. 

When  she  reached  the  lodge,  she  gave  some 
roots  to  her  own  cubs  and  some  to  Old  Deer's 
children.  As  the  younger  Deer  child  smelled  the 
roots,  he  cried,  "  That  smells  like  our  mother." 


78  IN    THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

But  the  older  Deer  child  nudged  him  and  whispered, 
"  Be  silent.  Don't  say  that." 

They  put  away  the  roots  and  lay  awake  all  night 
watching  for  their  mother. 

In  the  morning  Old  Grizzly  said  to  the  young 
deer :  "  I  must  go  and  search  for  your  mother.  I 
don't  see  why  she  has  not  come  back.  She  must 
have  made  a  fire  in  the  woods  and  have  fallen  asleep 
there."  Then  after  telling  her  own  children  what 
they  must  not  do  while  she  was  away,  she  set  out 
into  the  woods. 

When  she  was  out  of  sight,  the  young  deer  said 
to  the  cubs,  "  Shall  we  play  skipping  down  from 
the  house  ?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  the  cubs  answered,  "  our  mother  told 
us  not  to  skip  down  from  the  house.  It  will  make 
our  hearts  loose  in  us." 

Then  the  young  deer  said,  "  Let  's  jump  over 
logs." 

"  Oh,  no,"  the  cubs  answered,  "  our  mother  made 
us  promise  not  to  jump  over  logs,  for  the  tree 
sticks  will  run  into  our  legs." 

"  If  you  will  not  jump,"  said  the  young  deer, 
"let 's  play  plunging  into  the  water." 

"Oh,  no,"  answered  the  cubs,  "our  mother  told 
us  not  to  dive  into  the  water.  It  will  rise  up  and 
smother  us." 


OLD    DEER  AND    OLD   GRIZZLY  79 

"  Well,  then,"  said  the  young  deer,  "  let 's  play 
'  Smoke  Out.'  " 

"  Our  mother  has  not  told  us  about  that.  By 
and  by  we  will  play  it." 

The  young  deer  put'  rotten  wood  on  the  lodge 
fire.  Then  they  said  to  the  cubs:  "  We  will  go  into 
the  lodge.  You  must  put  the  cover  on,  and  when 
we  call  out,  take  it  off." 

"All  right,"  said  the  cubs,  "go  in." 

The  young  deer  went  in,  and  the  cubs  covered 
the  smoke  hole.  After  a  while  the  deer  called  out, 

"  Two  smoke  in, 
Two  smoke  out, 
Two  smoke  in, 
Smother,  smother,  oh,  oh." 

The  cubs  uncovered  the  smoke  hole,  and  the 
deer  came  out.  * .  » 

Then  the  cubs  went  into  the  lodge,  and  the  deer 
covered  the  hole.  In  a  short  time  the  cubs  cried, 

"  Smoke  in, 
Smother,  smother." 

The  deer  uncovered  the  hole,  and  the  cubs  came 
out.  After  the  deer  had  been  in  a  second  time,  it 
was  the  cubs'  turn  again. 


80  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

They  went  in,  and  the  deer  again  covered  the 
hole.  When  the  cubs  called, 

"  Two  smoke  in, 
Two  smoke  in, . 
Smother,  smother," 

the  deer  sat  on  the  cover  and  would  not  let  them 
out. 

When  the  cubs  were  smothered  to  death,  the 
young  deer  drew  them  up.  They  took  some  red 
paint,  which  Old  Grizzly  had  stolen  from  the  Indians, 
and  lined  the  cubs'  faces.  The  older  one  they 
propped  up  on  the  top  of  the  lodge,  with  a  stick 
under  his  mouth  to  keep  it  closed.  The  younger 
cub  they  tied  to  the  ladder  and  put  a  stick  under 
his  mouth  to  keep  it  closed. 

Then  they  went  into  the  lodge  and  said  to  the 
fireplace:  "Fireplace,  do  not  tell  Okl  Grizzly  which 
way  we  have  gone.  She  killed  our  mother  and  so 
we  have  killed  her  children."  The  fireplace  promised 
that  it  would  not  tell.  And  so  they  bound  every- 
thing in  the  lodge  not  to  tell,  everything  but  the 
bone  awl.  They  did  not  notice  this  because  it  was 
sticking  in  the  ceiling.  Then  they  started  away. 

When  Old  Grizzly  approached  her  home  again, 
she  saw  her  cubs  on  the  roof  and  ladder.  She 
noticed  the  red  paint  on  their  faces.  She  became 


OLD    DEER   AND    OLD   GRIZZLY  8l 

angry.  "  I  '11  punish  you  well  for  wasting  my  red 
paint,"  she  cried.  "  I  '11  teach  you  not  to  play  with 
such  things." 

As  she  came  nearer,  she  saw  that  her  children 
were  dead.  She  dropped  her  basket  and  wailed, 
"  Oh  !  the  children  of  Old  Deer  have  punished  me." 

Then  she  cried,  "  Oh,  children,  where  are  you  ? " 

She  went  into  the  lodge  and  asked,  "Fireplace, 
which  way  did  Old  Deer's  children  go  ?  "  The  fire- 
place was  silent. 

She  questioned  each  article  in  the  lodge,  but  re- 
ceived no  answer  until  she  came  to  the  bone  awl.  It 
said,  "The  children  of  Old  Deer  went  to  the  east." 

Old  Grizzly  started  after  them.  As  the  evening 
star  climbed  up  the  sky,  she  came  to  a  cave  blockaded 
with  stones.  She  knew  the  young  deer  were  in  it. 
She  called  out  loud : "  To-morrow  when  it  is  light, 
I  shall  play  a  game  with  you  children.  Then  I  shall 
be  able  to  see." 

The  older  child  was  awakened.  It  shook  the 
younger  and  whispered:  "She  has  overtaken  us. 
We  must  plan  what  to  do." 

They  watched  Old  Grizzly  build  a  fire  and  lie 
down  beside  it.  After  a  while  she  snored.  The 
deer  children  threw  little  sticks  near  her.  She  did 
not  stir.  They  threw  larger  sticks.  She  did  not 
stir.  They  threw  small  stones  and  large  stones. 


82  IN    THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

Still  she  did  not  stir.  Then  they  stole  out  of  the 
cave  and  ran  away  through  the  woods. 

When  they  came  to  the  river,  they  called  out  to 
Old  Crane:  "Cross  us  over  very  fast,  O  Uncle, 
else  Old  Grizzly  will  overtake  us." 

Old  Crane  hurried  across  to  them.  They  told 
him  the  story  of  Old  Grizzly's  killing  their  mother, 
and  of  their  revenge  and  flight.  Old  Crane  was 
very  fond  of  Old  Deer,  so  he  lifted  up  his  voice 
and  wailed,  " E-ush  tchiwa,  t-ush  tchiwa." 

Crane's  children  also  wept  aloud,  "E-ush  tchi 
tchil  tchi  tchti" 

Then  Old  Crane  crossed  them  over  the  river  and 
blew  upon  them.  They  stiffened  out  upon  the 
ground  and  looked  like  two  whistle  sticks. 

When  Old  Grizzly  was  awakened  by  the  morn- 
ing star,  she  growled,  "  Now,  at  last,  I  shall  play  a 
game  with  you  children."  She  rushed  to  the  cave. 
The  children  were  gone.  She  followed  their  tracks 
to  the  river.  There  she  hallooed  to  Old  Crane, 
"  Come  and  cross  me  over  the  river." 

Old  Crane  came  slowly. 

"Hurry,  Old  Crane.  I  want  to  overtake  Old 
Deer's  children.  Have  you  seen  them  ?  Are  they 
on  your  side  of  the  river." 

"There  are  no  deer  children  on  my  side," 
answered  Old  Crane. 


OLD    DEER   AND    OLD   GRIZZLY  83 

"  You  are  deceiving  me,"  growled  Old  Grizzly. 
"  You  are  trying  to  conceal  them.  Here  are  their 
tracks.  Now  cross  me  over  fast." 

"  I  have  no  canoe,"  objected  Old  Crane. 

"  You  need  no  canoe.  Cross  me  over  fast," 
insisted  Old  Grizzly. 

Old  Crane  spread  out  his  legs  across  the  river, 
making  a  bridge  from  one  side  to  the  other.  Old 
Grizzly  stepped  on  his  legs  and  began  walking  over. 
When  she  was  halfway  across,  she  felt  thirsty. 
She  seized  Old  Crane's  skullcap  and  drank  from 
the  river.  Then,  to  empty  the  cap,  she  gave  it  a 
hit  against  Old  Crane's  leg.  This  angered  Old 
Crane.  He  drew  down  his  leg  and  doused  Old 
Grizzly  in  the  river. 

Then  he  blew  upon  the  whistle  sticks,  and  they 
turned  into  Old  Deer's  children.  They  took  the 
bows  of  Old  Crane's  children  and  shot  Old  Grizzly 
dead. 

While  Wantasson  had  been  telling  his  story, 
Klayukat  had  come  to  the  shop,  his  punch  in  his 
hand.  When  the  story  was  finished,  he  said,  "A 
very  good  tale  that,  Wantasson.  My  people  have 
one  something  like  it,  only  it  is  of  the  robin  and 
the  salmon  berry,  and  it  goes  farther  and  tells  how 
the  trees  got  their  uses." 


84  IN    THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"Oh,  tell  that  story  to  us,  Klayukat.  Oh, 
please !  "  cried  the  children. 

"  Not  now,  little  ones.  You  have  had  your  story 
and  a  good  one,  too.  Now  Wantasson  will  fix  my 
punch  for  me,  and  you  go  to  your  play." 


THE  ROBIN  AND  THE 
SALMON  BERRY 

VIDENTLY    Klayukat    expected   the 
children  the  next  morning,  for  he  had 
a  basket  of  hazelnuts  cracked  for  them. 
"You  eat  these,"  he  said,  "and  while  I 
stitch,  I  will  tell  you  the  story  we  spoke  of." 
"But  first,  Klayukat,  what  is  a  salmon  berry?" 
asked  Antonio.    "  Has  it  anything   to  do  with   a 
salmon  ? " 

"  Nothing  to  do  with  a  salmon  except  its  color. 
It  is  salmon  colored  when  it  is  ripe.  It  is  a  berry 
that  is  something  like  your  blackberry,  only  it  is 
not  black,  and  it  does  not  grow  on  a  vine.  It  grows 
on  a  bush." 
"Oh!" 

The   children    began    crunching   the   nuts,  and 
Klayukat  began  his  tale. 


Robin  and    Salmon    Berry  were    sisters.    They 
lived  in  different  parts  of  the  same  house.    Robin 

85 


86  IN    THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

had  five  children,  and  they  were  all  girls.  Salmon 
Berry  had  five  children,  and  they  were  all  boys. 

Every  day  Robin  and  Salmon  Berry  went  picking 
berries  together.  One  evening,  as  they  walked 
toward  home,  Salmon  Berry  noticed  that  Robin's 
berries  were  all  unripe,  for  Robin  had  eaten  the 
ripe  ones  as  she  found  them.  Her  own  basket  was 
filled  with  luscious  berries.  Robin  looked  at  Salmon 
Berry  and  said,  "  What  would  you  think  if  I  should 
eat  you  ? " 

Salmon  Berry  replied,  "  Don't  do  that.  My  chil- 
dren would  be  poor  without  me." 

That  night  Salmon  Berry  told  her  children : 
"  That  monster  said  she  would  like  to  eat  me.  If 
she  really  should  eat  me,  don't  stay  here  any  longer, 
else  she  will  eat  you  also.  If  she  tries  to  deceive 
you,  do  not  believe  her." 

One  night  Robin  came  home  alone.  "Your 
mother  lost  her  way,"  she  said  to  the  Salmon  Berry 
children. 

"  Behold,  she  has  killed  her,"  thought  the  eldest 
son  of  Salmon  Berry. 

He  stayed  awake  all  night  for  fear  that  Robin 
would  eat  him  and  his  brothers  while  they  were 
sleeping. 

In  the  morning  Robin  said:  "I  will  search  for 
your  mother.  She  must  be  lost  in  the  woods." 


THE  ROBIN  AND  THE  SALMON  BERRY      87 

When  she  was  out  of  sight,  Salmon  Berry's  eldest 
son  made  a  fire.  He  said  to  Robin's  children : "  Let 's 
play  a  game.  Let 's  steam  each  other.  You  steam 
us  first,  and  then  we  will  steam  you.  When  we 
cry,  '  Now  we  are  done,'  you  must  let  us  out  of  the 
hole." 

"All  right,"  said  the  children  of  Robin. 

They  heated  stones  and  put  them  in  the  hole. 
Then  Salmon  Berry's  children  went  into  the  hole. 
Robin's  children  piled  dirt  up  over  them.  After  a 
while  the  eldest  son  called  out,  "  Now  we  are  done," 
and  Robin's  children  uncovered  them  and  let  them 
out. 

They  heated  stones  again  and  put  them  into  the 
hole.  Robin's  children  went  in.  The  children  of 
Salmon  Berry  covered  them  up  with  dirt  and  piled 
heavy  sticks  on  top  of  them.  Soon  Robin's  children 
called,  "  We  are  done  "  ;  but  the  children  of  Salmon 
Berry  would  not  let  them  out.  Robin's  children 
cried  a  little  while  and  then  were  silent.  They  were 
dead.  All  five  were  dead. 

The  children  of  Salmon  Berry  took  them  out  of 
the  hole.  They  put  one  near  a  pond  of  water  and 
twisted  its  mouth  so  that  it  looked  as  if  it  were 
laughing.  They  put  another  in  the  water  of  the 
pond.  This  was  the  youngest  robin  child.  Still 
another  they  put  on  the  roof  where  it  seemed  to 


88  IN    THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

be  looking  for  its  mother.  The  fourth  they  stood 
upright  near  the  door  of  the  house,  while  they 
placed  the  fifth  on  the  sand  so  that  it  looked  as  if 
it  were  playing  with  shells.  Then  they  dug  a  hole. 
They  left  their  dog  at  the  mouth  of  the  hole  and 
they  escaped  through  it. 

Robin  came  home  at  night.  She  thought  to 
herself,  "Now  I  will  eat  the  eldest  son." 

She  noticed  something  floating  on  the  water,  but 
did  not  stop  to  examine  it.  She  went  straight  to 
the  house,  and  said  to  the  child  sitting  upright  near 
the  door,  "Where  is  your  youngest  sister?"  The 
child  did  not  answer.  She  pushed  her,  and  her 
finger  went  right  into  her  flesh. 

She  saw  the  child  on  the  roof.  "  Where  is  your 
youngest  sister?"  she  called.  The  child  did  not 
answer.  She  pulled  at  its  arm,  and  the  arm  came 
out. 

She  went  to  the  child  playing  in  the  sand. 
"  Where  is  your  youngest  sister  ? "  but  the  child 
did  not  answer.  She  put  her  hand  on  its  head, 
and  the  head  rolled  off. 

She  saw  the  child  sitting  near  the  pond  with  its 
mouth  twisted  as  if  it  were  laughing.  "  You  cruel 
thing ! "  she  cried,  "  I  cannot  find  your  youngest 
sister,  and  you  are  laughing."  She  pulled  the 
child's  hair,  and  it  came  out. 


THE  ROBIN  AND  THE  SALMON  BERRY      89 

When  she  saw  the  youngest  child  floating  on  the 
water,  she  went  in  to  pull  it  out,  and  it  came  to 
pieces.  Then  she  wailed,  "  Oh,  Salmon  Berry's  son 
has  killed  my  children." 

She  went  to  the  house  and  looked  around  for  her 
nephews.  Then  she  noticed  the  dog.  "  Which  way 
did  your  masters  go  ?  "  she  asked  him. 

"  Wu  !  "  answered  the  dog,  pointing  with  his 
mouth  in  one  direction. 

Robin  ran  that  way  and  tried  to  smell  the  tracks 
of  the  children  of  Salmon  Berry.  She  could  find 
no  trace  of  them.  She  returned  to  the  dog.  "  You 
are  deceiving  me,"  she  accused  him.  "Tell  me 
which  way  your  masters  have  gone." 

'"  Wu!  "  answered  the  dog,  and  pointed  his  mouth 
in  another  direction.  Robin  ran  where  he  had 
pointed,  but  she  could  find  no  trace  of  the  children 
of  Salmon  Berry.  She  came  back  to  the  dog  and 
scolded  him  again.  Five  times  did  the  dog  turn  her 
from  the  right  track.  Then  she  discovered  the  hole. 

She  ran  down  it  and  found  the  tracks  of  the 
children.  She  followed  them,  calling  as  she  ran, 
"  O  children  !  I  have  found  your  mother." 

The  children  of  Salmon  Berry  heard  her  and  ran 
faster.  The  youngest  grew  tired,  and  the  others 
took  turns  in  carrying  him.  After  a  while  they 
came  to  the  skins  of  two  elk  bucks.  The  eldest 


90  IN   THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

son  found  two  kettles  and  boiled  the  skins  in  one 
and  the  antlers  in  another,  and  he  said  to  each: 
"  When  Robin  reaches  you,  you  must  boil  violently. 
Don't  cool  off  too  quickly,  for  she  will  be  hungry 
and  will  forget  to  pursue  us  while  she  waits  to  eat." 
Then  the  children  ran  on. 

Robin  came  to  the  kettles.  They  were  both  boil- 
ing violently.  She  began  to  scold  the  kettle  of 
skins.  "  I  will  take  revenge  on  your  grandmother, 
your  mother,  and  all  your  relatives."  The  skins 
could  not  stand  this.  They  stopped  boiling.  They 
cooled  off.  Robin  ate,  and  ate,  and  ate,  until  she 
finished  all  that  was  in  the  kettle  of  skins. 

Then  she  looked  at  the  kettle  of  antlers  and  be- 
gan to  scold  it.  "  I  will  take  revenge  on  your  father, 
your  uncle,  your  mother,  and  all  your  relatives." 
The  antlers  could  not  stand  this.  They  stopped 
boiling  and  cooled  off.  Robin  ate,  and  ate,  and  ate, 
until  she  had  eaten  all  that  was  in  the  kettle  of 
antlers.  Then  she  went  on  as  quickly  as  she  could. 

Meanwhile  the  children  of  Salmon  Berry  had 
reached  the  creek.  They  saw  Old  Crane  near  the 
water  and  asked  him  to  take  them  across. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  children,"  he  answered.  "Go 
to  my  house  and  eat  there.  Fish  has  been  boiled 
for  you."  They  went  to  Old  Crane's  house  and 
ate  and  rested. 


THE  ROBIN  AND  THE  SALMON  BERRY      91 

Robin  came  to  the  creek.  She  called,  "  Younger 
Brother,  take  me  across."  She  called  this  many 
times.  Then  Old  Crane  came  over  slowly.  He 
stretched  his  legs  out  and  bridged  the  water.  He 
said  to  Robin,  "  Don't  be  afraid,  or  you  might 
fall  in." 

Robin  started  to  walk  across  on  his  leg.  When 
she  was  halfway  over,  she  became  frightened,  for 
the  leg  there  was  narrow..  Old  Crane  began  to 
shake  his  leg,  and  he  shook  it  so  hard  that  Robin 
fell  into  the  water.  As  she  was  floating  down- 
stream, she  heard  Old  Crane  calling  after  her: 
"  Robin  shall  be  your  name,  Robin  shall  be  your 
name.  But  no  more  shall  you  eat  people." 

The  current  first  swept  Robin  against  jagged 
rocks,  which  cut  her  breast,  and  then  it  landed 
her  upon  a  sandy  beach.  There  she  lay  still  and 
seemed  to  be  dead.  The  crow  came  and  pecked 
at  the  hole  in  her  breast.  The  blood  flowed  out, 
and  Robin  stirred  a  little.  "  Stop  eating  me,  Old 
Crow,"  she  murmured,  "I  am  alive."  The  crow 
flew  away.  Robin  lay  still  awhile. 

When  the  blood  had  stopped  flowing  and  had 
caked  itself  over  her  breast,  she  arose  and  started 
homeward  through  the  woods.  On  her  way  she 
passed  a  willow  and  said  to  it,  "  O  Willow,  is  my 
painting  becoming  ? " 


92  IN    THE   REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

The  willow  sighed,  "  Oh,  how  bad  looks  the 
blood  on  her  breast !  " 

"  Oh,  you  bad  thing !  "  answered  Robin.  "  When 
your  wood  burns,  it  will  crackle  and  give  out  little 
heat." 

Then  she  came  to  an  alder  and  asked,  "  O  Alder, 
is  my  painting  becoming  ? " 

The  alder  bowed  quietly.  "It  is  becoming,  the 
blood  of  your  breast.". 

"Ah,  little  sister,"  laughed  Robin ;  "  when  people 
want  color,  they  will  get  red  dye  from  your  bark. 
When  you  are  dry,  you  will  burn  with  a  steady 
heat." 

She  next  came  to  a  cottonwood.  "  O  Cotton- 
wood,  is  my  painting  becoming  ?  " 

"  Oh,  how  bad  looks  the  blood  of  her  breast ! " 
murmured  the  cottonwood. 

"  Oh,  you  horrid  thing  !  You  shall  have  breaks 
in  your  side,  and  you  will  not  burn  well  when  you 
are  dry." 

Then  she  passed  to  the  maple  and  asked,  "  O 
Maple,  is  my  painting  becoming  ? " 

"  Oh,  how  becoming  is  the  blood  of  her  breast !  " 
nodded  the  maple. 

"  Ah,  you  are  true,  dear  sister.  Your  bark  shall 
be  used  for  baskets,  and  people  shall  find  them  of 
great  use." 


THE  ROBIN  AND  THE  SALMON  BERRY   93 

When  she  came  to  the  vine  maple,  she  asked  as 
before,  "  Is  my  painting  becoming  ?  " 

"  Oh,  how  becoming  is  the  blood  of  her  breast !  " 
replied  the  vine  maple. 

"  You  answer  well,  and  your  wood  shall  be  used 
for  dishes  and  spoons,  and  for  all  things  to  make 
a  house  comfortable." 

Then  she  passed  to  the  cedar  and  asked,  "  O 
Cedar,  is  my  painting  becoming  ? " 

"  Oh,  how  becoming  is  the  blood  of  her  breast !  " 
answered  the  cedar. 

"  You  speak  well,  my  younger  brother.  When 
people  make  canoes  of  you,  they  will  be  able  to 
exchange  them  for  slaves.  They  shall  use  you 
for  houses  and  sell  these  for  values." 

Then  she  went  to  the  fir  and  asked,  "  O  Fir,  is 
my  painting  becoming  ?  " 

"  Oh,  how  becoming  is  the  blood  of  her  breast !  " 
sighed  the  fir. 

"You  are  wise,  O  Fir.  When  conjurers  chant 
their  songs,  your  wood  shall  be  burned  in  their 
sacred  fires.  Your  breath  shall  ever  be  sought 
after  by  p'eople.  You  will  always  be  a  healer 
of  woes." 

Thus  Robin  passed  through  the  forest,  giving 
to  each  tree  the  uses  that  it  has  to-day. 


94  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"And  did  that  horrid  robin  give  every  tree  its 
use  —  every  single  tree?"  inquired  Juanita. 

"  Every  tree  that  has  a  use  got  it  from  Robin 
that  day." 

"And  was  the  hazel  tree  told  to  raise  these 
nuts  ? "  and  Antonio  held  up  the  few  that  were 
left  in  the  basket. 

"  It  was  told  that  day." 

"Well,  they're  good  nuts,  but  I  wish  that  old 
Robin  hadn't  told  them  to  grow,"  said  Juanita, 
as  she  stood  up  and  shook  her  skirt  in  disdain. 

"  You  may  have  more  nuts  some  other  day. 
Now  go  to  the  house  before  that  Tecla  comes 
calling  for  you." 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS 

SECURED  SALMON 

HE  next  day  Juanita  said,  "When 
Klayukat  told  us  about  the  robin 
and  salmon  berry,  why  did  n't  we 
ask  him  if  he  knew  a  story  about  the 
real  salmon  ?  " 
"  Let 's  go  and  ask  him  now,  though  I  don't  see 
that  a  salmon  could  do  much  —  living  always  in  the 
water." 

"  But  the  salmon  berry  children  did  much.  Why 
not  a  salmon  ?  Wilt  thou  ask  him,  Tonio  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Come  along,"  and  they  walked  across  to 
the  saddlery. 

"  About  a  salmon  ?  Well,  I  know  how  the  ani- 
mals first  got  salmon.  Will  that  do  ?  Yes?  Well, 
sit  on  the  hides,  and  I  will  tell  you  that  story." 


95 


96  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

In  the  olden  times  there  were  a  great  many  sal- 
mon in  the  sea,  but  none  could  get  up  the  river. 
Five  old  beaver  sisters  built  a  dam  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  and  would  not  let  them  pass. 

The  animals  up  the  river  were  starving.  They 
had  eaten  all  the  berries  and  nuts  and  roots  of 
the  past  year,  and  there  would  be  no  more  food 
for  them  for  three  moons.  They  went  in  a  body 
to  Coyote  and  prayed,  "  O  Coyote !  get  us  some 
salmon,  else  our  bones  will  cut  through  our 
skins." 

"  I  will  think  what  to  do,"  answered  Coyote.  He 
thought  and  thought  and  thought.  Then  he  made 
a  boat  and  started  down  alone  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river. 

When  he  got  near  the  dam,  he  changed  himself 
into  an  Indian  baby  tied  to  a  papoose  board.  Then 
he  lay  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  and  floated  until 
he  was  just  above  the  dam.  Just  then  one  of  the 
five  sisters  came  out  to  the  river's  edge.  As  soon 
as  Coyote  saw  her,  he  began  to  wail  like  a  little 
baby.  She  waded  in  and  brought  the  canoe  to 
shore. 

Then  she  called  to  her  sisters:  "O  sisters!  I 
have  found  a  baby.  His  mother  must  have  been 
drowned  from  the  canoe,  and  he  has  floated  down 
alone," 


She  waded  in  and  brought  the  canoe  to  shore : 
97 


98  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

The  other  sisters  crowded  around  to  see  him 
and  to  pinch  his  round  little  cheeks.  He  began  to 
cry.  Then  they  said,  "  Let  us  give  him  some  food." 

They  gave  him  shredded  salmon,  and  it  tasted 
very  good  to  hungry  Coyote.  He  laughed  and  held 
up  his  tiny  hands.  They  laughed  with  him  and 
pinched  his  cheeks  and  caressed  him.  Then  they 
took  him  to  their  camp  and  left  him  alone  while 
they  went  out  to  watch  the  dam. 

After  they  had  disappeared,  Coyote  changed 
back  to  his  own  form.  He  hunted  around  for 
the  key  of  the  dam.  He  did  not  find  it,  but  he 
found  some  dried  salmon  and  ate  it. 

The  sisters  came  home  at  sundown.  They  saw 
only  the  little'  baby  on  a  papoose  board  in  the 
corner  where  they  had  left  him.  When  they 
missed  their  dried  salmon,  they  exclaimed,  "This 
is  strange  ";  but  they  did  not  suspect  the  baby. 

The  next  sunrise  the  sisters  went  to  guard 
the  dam.  Coyote  became  himself  again,  and  again 
searched  for  the  key.  He  did  not  find  it,  but  he 
found  and  ate  some  more  dried  salmon.  At  night, 
when  the  sisters  missed  their  food,  they  said,  "  This 
is  wonderful."  They  looked  keenly  at  the  baby  on 
the  papoose  board  in  the  corner.  He  smiled  and 
cooed,  "  Goo,  goo !  "  They  smiled  back  and  said, 
"No,  it  cannot  be  the  baby." 


HOW  THE  ANIMALS  SECURED  SALMON      99 

This  happened  for  four  suns.  On  the  fifth  Coy- 
ote found  the  key  to  the  dam  hanging  on  a  knot  of 
an  elder  tree.  So  fast  did  he  run  to  the  river  that 
the  earth  trembled  beneath  his  steps. 

The  sisters,  sitting  at  the  dam,  were  shaken. 
"This  is  amazing,"  they  said.  "That  baby  must 
be  a  monster." 

Just  then  they  saw  Coyote  in  his  own  form  run- 
ning towards  them.  They  seized  clubs  and  fell 
upon  him.  He  wriggled  away  and  plunged  into  the 
water.  He  swam  to  the  door  of  the  dam  and 
unlocked  it.  The  river  roared  through,  breaking 
away  the  whole  dam  in  its  hurry.  Then  the  salmon 
swam  up  the  river,  and  ever  since,  to  this  day,  the 
animals  have  not  needed  to  go  hungry. 


"What  funny  old  Scnoras  to  give  a  baby  dried 
salmon ! "  laughed  Juanita.  "  I  never  knew  of 
people's  giving  a  baby  salmon,  did  you,  Tonio?" 

"  But  this  was  not  a  real  baby.  It  was  Coyote, 
so  it  did  n't  matter  what  they  gave  him.  He  could 
eat  anything.  So  could  I  now.  Let 's  go  and  ask 
Maria  for  a  tortilla."  And  with  a  "Thank  you, 
Klayukat,"  both  children  started  to  the  kitchen. 


WHY  THE  TICK  IS 
NOW  SMALL 

NCE,  when  Antonio  was  out  with  the 
herders,  a  wood  tick  got  on  his  arm.  It 
burrowed  its  head  into  his  flesh  and  had  to 
be  cut  out.  When  he  returned  home,  Juanita 
was  much  interested  in  his  experience.  Under  her 
sympathy  Antonio  felt  himself  a  man.  They  walked 
over  to  the  saddlery  talking  of  it. 

"Just  look  at  Tonio's  arm,  Klayukat.  He  had  a 
tick  in  it,  and  it  had  to  be  cut  out,"  boasted  the 
little  sister. 

"  A  tick  ?  Let  me  see.  Huh !  Yes.  It  is  well 
for  you  the  tick  is  not  so  large  as  it  was  before 
Coyote  conquered  it,  else  you  would  not  be  here 
to  show  your  arm." 

The  arm  was  forgotten.  Another  story  ?  They 
pleaded  for  it  at  once,  and  soon  they  were  seated 


WHY   THE   TICK    IS    NOW   SMALL         ioi 

on  the  hides,  and  Klayukat  was  reciting  the  story 
as  he  stitched  on  his  saddlebags. 


In  the  ancient  days  Tick  was  a  great  monster. 
He  lived  on  the  sheltered  side  of  a  mountain  and 
kept  large  herds  of  deer,  elk,  mountain  sheep,  and 
other  animals  that  are  good  for  food.  No  matter 
how  hungry  the  people  in  the  valley  might  be, 
Tick  could  always  satisfy  himself  by  going  out 
among  his  herds  and  killing  a  fat  animal. 

One  parching  summer  Coyote  was  nearly  starv- 
ing. He  thought  to  himself :  "  Tick  has  plenty  to 
eat,  and  he  does  no  good  to  the  animals.  I  will  go 
to  his  house  and  kill  him  and  take  his  herds." 

He  toiled  up  the  mountain  and  found  Tick  just 
out  of  the  sweat-house  and  ready  for  a  plunge  into 
the  lake. 

"  Good  morning,"  said  Coyote.  "  I  am  tired  and 
dusty.  May  I  have  a  sweat  and  a  bath  to  refresh 
me  for  the  rest  of  my  journey  ?  " 

"You  may,"  replied  Tick,  "if  you  will  heat  the 
rocks  yourself.  I  have  to  take  my  bath." 

"  Thank  you  ;  that  I  will  do,"  answered  Coyote, 
as  he  began  to  pile  the  stones  on  the  smoldering 
fire.  When  the  rocks  were  heated,  he  placed  them 
in  the  sweat-house.  Then  he  went  in  and  closed 
the  door  tight. 


102  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"  What  a  strange  sweat-house  this  is !  "  he  re- 
marked to  himself.  "  It  looks  like  the  body  of  a 
big  deer."  And  that  is  just  what  it  was. 

As  the  heat  radiated  from  the  stones,  the  fat  on 
the  ribs  of  the  deer  melted  and  dripped  down. 
Coyote  held  up  his  mouth  and  caught  the  deli- 
cious drops.  As  his  hunger  was  satisfied,  he  grew 
stronger,  and  he  began  to  make  his  plans  for  killing 
Tick.  When  he  was  well  sweated,  he  ran  out  of  the 
deer  house  and  plunged  into  the  lake.  The  cool 
bath  made  him  feel  like  a  new  person. 

In  his  strength  he  rushed  to  where  Tick  was 
lying  in  the  sun.  He  seized  him  and  began  to 
choke  him.  Tick  lay  so  still  that  soon  Coyote 
thought  he  was  dead  and  loosened  his  hold. 

Immediately  Tick  jumped  up  and  called  to  all  his 
herds  to  flee  with  him.  The  great  deer  that  had 
formed  the  sweat-house  shook  itself  and  started  to 
run  to  the  valley.  As  it  fled,  Tick  clung  to  its  hair 
and  was  being  carried  away. 

He  laughed  as  he  saw  Coyote's  look  of  surprise. 
"Aha!  You  thought  to  kill  me  by  squeezing  me. 
You  ought  to  have  had  more  sense.  Why  did  you 
not  put  me  on  a  rock  and  crush  me  with  a  stone  ? 
I  '11  still  revel  in  the  blood  of  your  animals.  Aha!" 

The  taunting  laugh  maddened  Coyote,  and  he 
cursed  Tick.  "  You  will  never  more  kill  any  of  my 


"  He  plunged  into  the  lake  ' 


103 


104  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

animals.  You  shall  be  little  and  feeble.  As  you 
now  cling  to  the  deer's  hair,  so  all  the  rest  of  your 
days  you  shall  crawl  around  on  the  hair  of  animals. 
You  shall  suck  blood,  yes,  but  it  will  be  in  such 
tiny  drops  that  you  will  never  again  grow  fat.  And 
at  any  time  my  animals  may  kill  you  with  a  stone." 
So  since  that  day  Tick  has  been  a  little  flat  crawl- 
ing creature  that  lives  by  sucking  blood.  The  ani- 
mals are  no  longer  obedient  to  him,  for  at  any  time 
they  can  crush  him  to  death  by  sudden  violence. 


"  Oh,  Tonio,  F  m  so  glad  Coyote  conquered  him. 
Just  think,  if  the  big  tick  had  taken  hold  of  you!" 
and  Juanita  gave  her  brother's  arm  a  squeeze. 

"  But  it  did  n't,"  said  Antonio,  pulling  his  arm 
loose.  "  Klayukat,  the  herders  say  that  rabbits  have 
ticks  all  over  them.  Is  that  so  ?  " 

"  Who  can  tell  ?  Who  can  tell  ?  Ticks  will  go 
anywhere  they  can.  As  for  rabbits,  well,  rabbits 
have  not  the  best  sense.  Did  I  ever  tell  you  the 
story  of  the  jack  rabbit's  fight  with  the  sun  ? " 

"  No,  we  've  never  heard  it.  Will  you  tell  it  to 
us  now  ? " 

"  Not  now.  I  must  take  this  awl  to  the  smithy. 
You  come  around  some  other  time,  when  you  have 
nothing  to  do." 


WHY  THE  SUN  TRAVELS 
REGULARLY 

HE  next  day  the  children  appeared  at 
Klayukat's  door  and  asked  for  the  rabbit 
story. 

"  We  meet  the  rabbits  everywhere  we  go,"  said 
Antonio,  —  "  on  the  hill,  in  the  canyon,  by  the  road, 
and  under  our  own  fig  trees.  We  'd  like  to  know 
something  about  them." 

"  You  may  not  learn  much  about  the  jack  rabbit, 
but  you  will  learn  what  a  good  thing  he  did  for  the 
world,"  returned  Klayukat.  Then,  as  he  bored  holes 
in  some  leggins,  he  recited  this  tale. 


In  the  days  of  the  ancients  the  sun  did  not  move 
around  the  earth  regularly,  as  it  does  to-day.    At 
times  it  would  stay  away  so  long  that  all  the  ani- 
mals would  be  nearly  frozen.    Then  it  would  come 
105 


106  IN   THE   REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

back  so  close  to  the  world  that  people  would  be 
burned  up. 

Once,  when  the  sun  had  been  absent  a  long  time, 
Jack  Rabbit  sat  near  his  camp  fire  with  his  children. 
They  were  watching  for  the  sun  to  return.  After  a 
while  Jack  Rabbit  grew  weary  and  fell  asleep. 

Suddenly  he  was  awakened.  "  Father,  father  !  " 
he  heard  his  children  cry,  "your  back  is  on  fire." 
Jack  Rabbit  rolled  over  in  the  dirt  and  put  the  fire 
out.  He  was  very  angry  with  the  sun  for  coming 
back  and  burning  him  in  his  sleep. 

"  You  stay  here,  children,"  he  cried.  "  I  am  going 
to  fight  that  sun.  I  am  tired  of  its  whims." 

He  picked  up  his  bow  and  five  arrows,  and  turned 
his  steps  toward  the  east. 

After  traveling  a  long  while  he  came  to  the  edge 
of  the  world,  where  the  sun  comes  up.  There  he 
sat  down  and  waited.  After  some  time  the  sun 
came  in  sight. 

"  Now  I  shall  punish  you,"  cried  Jack  Rabbit,  and 
he  shot  an  arrow  at  its  face.  The  sun  only  grinned 
and  burned  up  the  arrow  before  it  was  a  mile  from 
the  earth. 

Jack  Rabbit  sent  a  second  arrow,  but  it  too  was 
burned.  So  was  the  third  arrow  and  the  fourth. 
The  fifth  arrow  was  a  charmed  one,  and  to  make 
doubly  sure  that  it  would  not  burn,  Jack  Rabbit  wet 


WHY   THE   SUN   TRAVELS   REGULARLY      107 

it  with  a  tear  from  his  eye.  -Then  he  aimed  care- 
fully. Twang !  The  arrow  flew  straight  to  the  sun 
and  chipped  off  a  number  of  pieces  from  its  face.  • 

The  fiery  fragments  came  whirling  down  to  the 
earth  and  set  everything  on  fire.  Jack  Rabbit  had 
to  race  before  the  flames.  He  jumped  and  jumped, 
but  the  flames  ate  his  toes  off.  He  hopped  faster, 
but  the  fire  caught  his  legs  and  burned  them  off. 
He  jerked  on  still  faster,  but  the  sparks  flew  on  his 
body  and  burned  it  up.  His  head  bounded  on  still 
faster.  The  flames  reached  for  it.  The  head  stum- 
bled against  a  stone.  Then  from  Jack  Rabbit's  eyes 
poured  such  a  flood  of  tears  that  it  quenched  the 
fire,  and  the  earth  was  saved. 

Jack  Rabbit  crouched  down  under  a  bush  near 
the  stone  until  his  body  and  legs  and  toes  grew 
again.  Then  he  ran  back  to  his  waiting  children. 

He  complained  to  the  animals  about  the  sun's 
irregularity.  "  It  either  stays  away  so  long  that  we 
freeze,  or  it  comes  so  close  that  we  scorch,"  he  said. 
"And  if  we  complain,  it  tries  to  burn  the  whole  world 
up.  I  think  we  ought  to  order  its  movements." 

The  other  animals  answered,  "  We  think  so  too. 
Let  us  call  a  council  and  order  the  sun's  move- 
ments." 

So  they  called  a  council  of  all  the  animals  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  They  sat  around  in  a  circle, 


108  IN    THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

and  each  animal  expressed  his  opinion.  Then  they 
all  decided  that  the  sun  could  not  travel  in  such 
an  irregular  way  any  longer.  They  ruled  that  it 
should  travel  around  the  world  every  day,  and  that 
it  should  never  go  so  far  away  that  people  would 
freeze,  nor  approach  so  near  that  they  would  be 
burned. 

Ever  since  that  council  the  animals  have  had  reg- 
ular days  and  regular  seasons,  and  they  have  had 
no  more  fear  of  the  sun's  destroying  them. 


"  Poor  rabbit,  to  have  his  head  bounce  along 
alone,"  breathed  Juanita.  "  I  should  think  he 
would  never  have  gotten  well  again." 

"  Do  rabbits'  tears  always  put  out  fires,  Klayu- 
kat  ?  Tecla  told  us  that  a  rabbit's  tear  would  charm 
an  arrow,"  and  Antonio's  tones  were  serious. 

"  Did  she,  —  that  woman  ?  So  they  know  that  in 
her  country  !  Yes,  a  rabbit's  tear  will  make  an 
arrow  fly  straight,  and  if  you  carry  some  rabbit 
tears  with  you,  you  will  never  burn." 

"  But  where  do  you  get  the  tears  ?  " 

"Now  that  question,  young  Antonio—  But 
there  is  that  Tecla  calling  you.  You  must  go," 
and  Klayukat  settled  in  relief  to  his  work. 


THE  SUBJUGATION  OF 

THE  THUNDERBIRD 


ONE  day  there  was  a  thunderstorm.  At 
such  an  unusual  occurrence  as  this,  in 
-  •••  ^  the  vicinity  of  San  Francisco,  the  chil- 
dren were  frightened.  Juanita  would  not  leave  her 
mofher's  lap,  and  Antonio  stayed  close  beside  her. 
Together  they  said  their  prayers  aloud.  The  sun 
was  out  some  time  before  they  cared  to  go  into 
the  courtyard.  Then  they  sought  Klayukat. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  such  noise  before,  Klayukat  ? 
Such  awful  noise  !  " 

"  Oh,  I  do  not  mind  that  noise.  It  cannot  do  any 
harm  since  Coyote  made  the  law  against  it." 

"  Did  Coyote  have  anything  to  do  with  thun- 
der?" 

"  Yes,  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it.  If  it  had  not 
been  for  Coyote,  perhaps  this  thunder  to-day  would 
have  killed  us  all." 

The  children  clasped  each  other's  hands. 
109 


110  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

"Sit  down  on  the  hides,  and  I  will  tell  you  the 
story."  

In  the  early  days  Thunder  was  a  mighty  bird. 
He  lived  in  the  high  mountains  and  rode  about  on 
the  clouds.  His  only  pleasure  seemed  to  be  in 
killing  the  animals.  If  he  saw  a  bear  taking  a 
stroll,  or  an  eagle  soaring  into  the  heavens,  he 
would  spread  out  dark  clouds,  pour  down  heavy 
rain,  and  wink  his  flashing  eyes.  He  did  not  stop 
until  his  victim  was  quite  dead.  The  animals 
became  so  frightened  that  they  dared  not  step  out 
of  their  houses. 

One  day  Coyote  came  along  and  said :  "  What 's 
the  matter  with  you  people  ?  You  look  frightened 
and  hungry.  Why 'don't  you  come  out  of  your 
houses  and  hunt  for  food  ? " 

"Oh,  we  dare  not,"  they  replied.  "If  we  ven- 
ture forth,  Thunderbird  pierces  us  with  his  fiery 
eye.  Cannot  you  help  us,  O  Coyote  ?  " 

"  Why,  this  is  serious,"  answered  Coyote.  "  I 
will  see  what  I  can  do." 

He  thought  and  thought  and  thought.  Then  he 
changed  himself  into  a  tiny  downy  featherand  floated 
off  on  the  wind.  He  sailed  until  he  was  over  the 
home  of  Thunderbird.  He  looked  well  at  the 
troublesome  giant,  then  came  down  in  a  whirlwind 


SUBJUGATION    OF   THE   THUNDERBIRD      i  i  i 

and  lighted  on  a  dry  sunflower  stalk,  right  in  front 
of  Thunderbird's  door. 

Thunderbird  had  been  watching  the  feather  for 
some  time.  He  thought,  "  That  looks  like  a  feather, 
and  yet  it  looks  like  an  animal."  Then  he  sat  up 
and  took  a  better  look  at  it. 

"Probably,"  he  said,  "it  is  only  a  feather  that  I 
knocked  out  of  an  owl  the  other  day.  The  wind 
has  blown  it  here.  I  will  try  a  little  rain  on  it  and 
see  what  it  will  do." 

Then  he  roared  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice  and  sent 
down  a  heavy  shower  of  rain.  The  feather  did  not 
move  while  he  was  doing  this. 

When  Thunderbird  ceased,  the  feather  rose  in 
the  air  and  began  to  send  down  rain  and  thunder 
and  most  awful  lightning. 

Thunderbird  was  amazed  to  see  such  a  tiny 
thing  as  a  feather  send  down  rain  and  thunder  and 
lightning.  "  How  is  this  ? "  he  questioned.  "  I 
thought  that  /  was  the  only  Thunderbird  in  the 
world."  Then,  feeling  jealous,  he  cried  louder, 
winked  quicker,  and  sent  down  heavier  showers. 

The  feather  replied  with  still  fiercer  thunder, 
keener  lightning,  and  swifter  rain,  right  into  the  very 
eyes  of  Thunderbird,  and  made  him  blink  and  dodge. 

He  was  angrier  than  ever  and  returned  the 
heaviest  charges  that  he  had.  Still  the  feather 


112  IN    THE   REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

neither  blinked  nor  dodged,  but  just  kept  on 
pouring  out  thunder,  and  lightning,  and  rain. 

Then  Thunderbird  flew  from  his  rocky  home 
into  the  heavens  and  tried  to  grapple  with  the 
feather.  The  noise  was  so  great,  and  the  lightning 
so  cutting,  and  the  rain  so  violent  that  the  earth 
beneath  was  torn  and  burned  into  ravines. 

Finally  they  came  together  in  one  close  grip 
and  fell  to  the  earth.  The  shock  was  so  great  that 
the  whole  world  trembled.  The  feather  came  down 
on  top,  and  when  it  struck  the  earth,  it  turned 
back  into  Coyote. 

He  at  once  began  to  beat  Thunderbird's  head 
with  his  war  club.  Thunderbird  pleaded  for  mercy, 
but  Coyote  kept  on  beating  him  until  his  club  was 
shattered.  Then  he  said:  "You  may  live,  but  no 
more  shall  people  see  your  huge  body.  No  more 
may  you  kill  or  terrify.  You  may  thunder  only  in 
the  sultry  summer  time.  You  may  lightning  occa- 
sionally, but  never  more  to  destroy." 

From  that  day  the  power  of  Thunderbird  has 
been  broken.  He  is  no  longer  seen,  and  his 
voice  and  his  winkings  are  no  longer  a  terror  to 
the  animals. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  so  glad  Coyote  ever  lived,"  sighed 
Juanita.  "  I  'm  going  to  pray  for  him  to-night,  the 


SUBJUGATION  OF  THE  THUNDERBIRD     113 

good  thing,  for  stopping  the  thunder.  Just  think 
if  that  awful  bird  could  swoop  down  on  us  now  ! " 

"  That  is  not  the  only  awful  bird  Coyote  con- 
quered. There  was  the  owl.  He  was  nearly  as 
bad  as  Thunderbird." 

"The  owl?  I'm  not  afraid  of  an  owl,"  and 
Antonio's  tones  betokened  his  bravery.  "I  helped 
Santo  take  one  out  of  the  barn  loft." 

"  Huh  !  An  owl  out  of  a  barn  loft  ?  That  is  not 
the  kind  Coyote  dealt  with.  Why,  it  could  carry 
off  the  whole  barn  in  one  claw.  Owl  in  a  barn 
loft  —  huh  !  "  And  no  pleading  could  win  another 
word  from  Klayukat  that  afternoon. 


WHY  THE  BAT  IS 
BLIND 

HE  children  went  on  to  the  smithy. 
Wantasson  asked,  "  How  did  you  like 
the  thunder  this  morning,  children  ?  " 

"  We  did  n't  like  it  at  all.     Did  you, 
Wantasson  ?" 
"  No,  I  did  not  like  it,  nor  the  lightning  either. 
I  shut  the  door  of  the  shop,  but  the  light  came  in 
so  bright  that  I  was  afraid  my  eyes  would  burn 
out." 

"  We  hid  our  eyes,  did  n't  we,  Tonio  ? "  The 
brother  vouchsafed  no  answer. 

"  I  would  have  covered  mine,  only  I  had  nothing 
here  but  hot  iron.  That  would  have  been  as  bad 
as  the  pitch  the  bat  used." 

"  What  pitch  did  the  bat  use  ?  "    asked  Juanita. 
"Why  did  the  bat  use  pitch?"    and  Antonio 
was  all  interest. 

114 


WHY  THE   BAT   IS   BLIND  115 

"  Don't  you  know  how  the  bat  came  to  be  blind  ? 
No  ?  Well,  sit  down,  and  I  will  rest  while  we  have 
that  story." 

Once  there  was  no  fire  in  this  land,  but  the  ani- 
mals knew  there  was  plenty  far  off  in  the  west. 
One  day,  as  they  were  shivering  together,  Bat  said 
to  Lizard,  "  Why  don't  you  scurry  off  to  the  west 
and  get  a  coal  for  us  ?  " 

Lizard  said,  "  I  believe  I  will."  He  wriggled  off 
for  many  suns,  until  he  reached  the  fiery  west. 
There  he  took  a  coal  in  his  mouth  and  started 
home. 

It  had  not  been  much  trouble  for  him  to  whisk 
unseen  into  the  west  and  to  take  a  coal,  but  it  was 
not  easy  to  get  the  coal  safe  to  his  home.  He  had 
to  carry  the  brand  up  high,  so  that  it  would  not 
set  the  grass  afire ;  and  then,  too,  all  the  animals 
were  eager  to  steal  fire.  He  had  to  travel  at  night 
for  fear  of  thieves. 

When  he  was  only  one  sun  from  home,  he  sud- 
denly came  across  a  party  of  cranes  sitting  up  late, 
gambling  by  the  light  of  the  moon.  He  crept  into 
the  shadow  of  a  log  and  stole  quietly  on,  but  he 
could  not  escape  their  sharp  eyes. 

"  Why,  there 's  Lizard  with  a  coal,"  screamed 
one  crane. 


Il6  IN    THE   REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

"  Let 's  get  the  fire.  Let  's  get  it,"  they  all 
yelled,  and  started  after  him  with  all  the  speed 
of  their  long  legs. 

They  soon  overtook  him,  and  as  they  snatched 
for  the  fire,  Lizard  dropped  the  coal.  In  a  twinkling 
the  dry  grass  was  ablaze.  Lizard  speeded  for  his 
life.  The  burning  grass  followed  him  in  great 
waves  of  flame. 

Bat  saw  the  fire  approaching  and  rubbed  her 
eyes  to  see  what  the  matter  was.  Then  her  eyes 
began  to  pain  her.  She  heard  Lizard  running 
in  and  called :  "  Oh,  Lizard,  Lizard  !  My  eyes  will 
be  burned  out  with  this  great  blaze.  Please  put 
some  pitch  over  them  to  keep  out  the  strong 
light." 

"All  right,"  said  Lizard.  He  spread  the  pitch 
on,  but  he  was  trembling  so  that  he  got  it  on  too 
thick.  Bat  could  not  see  at  all. 

"  Oh,  now  I  'm  blind  indeed,"  she  cried.  She 
jumped  this  way  and  that.  She  fluttered  against  a 
tree  and  fell  to  the  ground.  Her  feathers  caught 
fire  and  were  all  singed  off.  She  lifted  herself  and 
flew  towards  the  west.  "  O,  West  Wind,"  she 
sobbed,  "blow  on  my  aching  eyes." 

The  wind  heard  her  and  laid  its  cool  fingers  upon 
her.  It  could  not  get  all  the  pitch  off,  and  so  Bat's 
eyes  have  always  been  covered  since.  Her  feathers, 


WHY  THE    BAT    IS    BLIND  117 

too,  have  never  grown  on  again,  and  even  to  this 
day  she  wears  a  dingy  singed  coat. 


"  The  poor  bat  !  How  does  it  get  around  ?  "  and 
Juanita  looked  pensive. 

"  It  does  not  get  around  very  well  ;  it  keeps 
bumping  into  things.  Santo  caught  one  in  the  barn 
last  night.  He  had  it  nailed  up  on  the  barn  door." 

"  Oh,  let 's  go  and  see  it"  ;  and  Antonio  raced  off. 
Juanita  followed,  and  soon  they  both  were  swinging 
on  the  lower  half  of  the  barn  door,  examining  the 
bat  nailed  to  the  upper  half. 

Now,  Mabel  and  Joe,  I  wonder  if  you  have  ever 
learned  whether  the  bat  is  really  blind.  Suppose 
you  find  out  about  it. 


§§  WHY  THE  OWL  EATS  ONLY 
SMALL  CREATURES 


NTONIO  and  Juanita  had  studied  the 
tastes  of  their  story-tellers,  and  the  next 
morning  they  appeared  at-  Klayukat's 
door  with  a  handful  of  ripe  olives. 
"These  are  for  you,  Klayukat.  They  are 
this  year's  crop  and  just  fresh  from  the  brine." 
Klayukat  extended  his  hand  and  received  the 
dripping  purple  globes.  As  he  ate,  the  children 
watched  him  in  silence.  When  he  had  wiped  his 
mouth  on  his  sleeve  and  returned  to  his  saddlebags, 
Antonio  ventured,  "  Could  you  tell  us  this  morning 
how  Coyote  conquered  the  owl,  Klayukat  ? " 

"I  think  I  could."    The  olives  had  softened  his 
mood.    "  Sit  down  and  I  will  tell  it  to  you." 


nS 


OWL  EATS  ONLY  SMALL  CREATURES       119 

In  the  days  of  the  ancients  Owl  was  a  terror  to 
the  animal  people.  He  was  enormous  in  size,  with 
great  staring  eyes.  Every  time  he  felt  hungry,  he 
flew  down  to  the  roadside.  When  an  animal  came 
along,  he  would  jump  out  in  front  of  it  suddenly 
and  demand  in  a  loud  screech :  "  Who  are  you  ? 
Who  ?  Who  ?  "  The  animal  would  be  so  frightened 
that  it  could  not  answer. 

Then  Owl  would  hoot:  "  You  do  not  know  who 
you  are.  Who?  Who?  I'll  eat  you  up."  And 
he  would  swallow  the  trembling  creature.  He  ate 
so  many  that  every  family  was  in  mourning. 

The  animals  went  to  Coyote  and  prayed:  "O 
Coyote,  help  us.  This  dreadful  Owl  is  eating  our 
brothers,  our  wives,  and  our  children.  Every  home 
is  rilled  with  sobs.  Oh,  help  us,  Coyote." 

"  I  '11  see  what  I  can  do,"  answered  Coyote. 

He  thought  and  thought.  Then  he  brushed  up 
his  clothes  and  made  himself  look  nice  and  young. 
He  took  his  stone  knife  and  sauntered  down  the  road. 

Suddenly  Owl  jumped  out  from  the  brush  and 
demanded  in  his  loud  screech :  "  Who  are  you  ? 
Who  ?  Who  ?  " 

Coyote  looked  surprised.  He  bowed  politely  and 
said,  "  Why,  where  did  you  come  from  ? " 

Then  Owl  looked  surprised.  He  blinked  his 
eyes  and  did  not  say  a  word. 


120  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

Coyote  looked  straight  at  him  and  repeated, 
"  Where  did  you  come  from  ?  " 

Owl  blinked  his  eyes  again,  but  he  did  not  speak 
a  word. 

A  third  time  Coyote  asked,  "  Well,  where  did 
you  come  from  ? " 

Owl  shifted  all  his  weight  to  his  right  foot.  He 
blinked  his  eyes  and  said  slowly  in  a  calm  voice, 
"  Where  did  you  come  from  ?  " 

"  I  am  from  no  other  land  than  this  where  you 
are  living,"  answered  Coyote.  "  This  is  my  coun- 
try, and  I  am  looking  for  something  to  eat." 

Owl  thought  to  himself,  "  I  never  saw  this  crea- 
ture before.  Who  can  he  be  ?  "  Aloud  he  said,  "  I 
have  traveled  all  over  this  country,  but  I  never  met 
you  before." 

"  Why,  I  have  been  from  one  end  of  the  world 
to  the  other,"  replied  Coyote.  "  I  have  been  where 
the  sun  rises  and  into  the  land  of  darkness.  I  have 
been  up  into  the  long  colds  and  down  into  the  long 
heats.  But  I  never  sawjj/0«  before." 

Owl  blinked  his  eyes,  but  did  not  speak  a  word. 

"  However,  I  Ve  heard  of  you,"  continued  Coy- 
ote. "  I  Ve  heard  that  you  claim  to  have  been 
eating  people.  Let 's  both  bring  the  bones  of  the 
people  we  ate  yesterday,  and  then  we  shall  see 
which  of  us  is  the  greater." 


"  He  was  enormous  in  size,  with  great  staring  eyes 


122  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

"Yes,  that  is  good,"  agreed  Owl;  and  he  went 
for  the  bones. 

When  Coyote  heard  him  returning,  he  called  in 
a  loud  tone:  "  Let  us  both  shut  our  eyes  until  we 
get  our  piles  fixed.  Don't  open  them  until  I  give 
the  word." 

"  That  is  all  right,"  answered  Owl.  He  shut  his 
eyes  and  went  on  piling  the  bones  of  the  animals 
he  had  eaten. 

Coyote  held  his  eyes  half  open.  He  looked 
across  at  Owl's  pile  of  bones.  They  were  of  large, 
strong  animals.  His  own  were  only  mice  bones. 
He  quietly  drew  Owl's  pile  before  himself  and  put 
his  bones  before  Owl.  Then  he  called,  "  Let  us 
open  our  eyes  and  see  which  is  the  greater." 

They  opened  their  eyes.  Owl  looked  surprised 
at  the  little  mice  bones  before  him.  Coyote  looked 
at  him  in  scorn. 

"Ah,  you  have  been  deceiving  us,"  he  said. 
"  You  see  you  eat  only  mice,  while  I  eat  large 
animals.  Therefore  I  am  the  greater." 

"But  I  am  sure  I  ate  larger  things,"  insisted 
Owl.  "  Let  us  bring  the  bones  of  our  day-before- 
yesterday's  dinner." 

"  That  is  good,"  answered  Coyote.  "  And  we  '11 
shut  our  eyes  in  the  same  way,  until  I  give  the 
word  to  open  them." 


OWL  EATS  ONLY  SMALL  CREATURES      123 

This  time,  too,  Coyote  peeped  and  changed 
around  the  piles  of  bones. 

Again  Owl  was  much  surprised  to  see  only  mice 
bones  before  himself.  "  Let  us  try  the  day-before- 
the-day-bef ore-yesterday's  dinner,"  he  said.  "  I  am 
sure  I  have  eaten  larger  game."  Coyote  consented. 

They  did  this  for  five  times.  Each  time  Coyote 
shifted  around  the  two  piles  of  bones.  Every  time 
Owl  was  surprised  to  see  mice  bones  before  himself, 
and  asked  for  another  trial. 

After  the  fifth  time  Coyote  said:  "You  have  made 
believe  that  you  have  been  eating  large  animals, 
while  you  can  show  only  mice  bones.  Hereafter 
you  can  eat  nothing  larger  than  mice.  You  Ve  been 
doing  enough  killing.  I  'm  going  to  kill  you  now." 

Then  he  walked  up  to  Owl  and  cut  off  his  head 
with  his  stone  knife.  He  took  the  body  and  threw 
it  toward  the  mountains.  "  You  may  stay  there, 
but  you  shall  be  small  all  the  rest  of  your  days. 
You  may  hoot,  and  scream,  and  frighten  people, 
but  nevermore  may  you  kill  them." 

Since  Coyote  made  this  law,  Owl  has  been  small 
in  size.  He  lives  in  lonely  places.  He  often  fright- 
ens people  by  demanding  in  a  loud  screech:  "Who 
are  you?  Who?  Who?"  But  never  since  that 
day  has  he  been  able  to  kill  an  animal  larger  than 
a  mouse.  


124  IN    THE    REIGN    OF    COYOTE 

"  I  wish  Coyote  had  n't  let  him  eat  little  birds," 
said  Juanita. 

Antonio  noticed  a  coolness  returning  to  Klayu- 
kat's  face,  so  he  hastened  with  "  Well,  everything 
eats  what 's  smaller  than  itself.  The  birds  eat  bugs, 
and  we  eat  the  birds,  so  we  are  as  bad  as  the  owl." 

"  Oh,  Tonio  !  " 

"  Yes,  we  are.  We  're  worse,  for  we  eat  our  own 
chickens,  and  our  own  beef,  and  —  and  —  oh,  our 
own  everything." 

"  Oh,  Tonio !  Don't ;  I  don't  want  to  think  we 
are  worse  than  the  owl.  I  won't  eat  any  more 
meat.  No,  don't  tell  me  any  more  '  We  're  worse 's,' 
for  I  won't  hear  them,"  and  the  little  girl  covered 
her  ears  with  her  hands  and  ran  from  the  shop. 


WHY  THE  DEAD  DO 

NOT  COME  BACK 

NE  day  Juanita  was  mourning 
the  loss  of  a  pet  canary.  An- 
tonio had  gone  off  for  the  day 
with  the  herders,  and  she  was  lonely 
in  her  sorrow.  She  went  over  to  the 
saddlery  to  tell  Klayukat  her  trouble. 
"Just  think,  Klayukat,  it  won't  sing  any  more. 
It  used  to  love  so  to  sing.  Captain  Bangs  says  it 
sang  all  those  long  days  when  he  was  bringing  it 
from  China.  And  now  it  will  never  sing  any 
more,"  and  sobs  choked  her  words. 

"  Oh,  Ninita  mia,  weep  not  so.  I  think  your  bird 
is  singing  more  happily  in  the  Land  of  the  Dead. 
You  know  when  Coyote  went  there  he  found  all 
the  dead  singing  and  dancing  and  having  a  good 
time." 

"  Did  he  ?  When  did  he  go  ?  How  did  he  go  ? " 
and  Juanita' s  voice  became  firmer. 

125 


126  IN    THE   REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

"  You  sit  on  the  hides,  Chiquita,  and  eat  these 
nuts,  and  old  Klayukat  will  tell  you  what  Coyote 
learned  about  the  Land  of  the  Dead." 


Many,  many  moons  ago,  the  animal  people  had 
one  sorrow,  —  their  relatives  who  died  never  came 
back  again.  The  whole  land  was  filled  with  mourn- 
ing, for  almost  every  household  had  lost  one  of  its 
number.  Eagle's  wife  was  gone,  and  he  wept  all 
day  and  would  not  be  comforted. 

Coyote  felt  sorry  for  the  animals.  "  The  leaves 
come  back  to  the  trees,"  he  thought.  "  Why  should 
not  people  come  back  to  the  earth  ?  I  ought  to  be 
able  to  do  something  to  bring  them  back." 

He  went  to  Eagle  and  said :  '/  Don't  grieve  so, 
Brother  Eagle.  I  think  people  ought  to  come  back 
like  the  leaves  on  the  trees.  Wait  until  spring. 
Then,  when  the  grass  comes  out  in  its  greenness 
and  the  flowers  smile  in  their  beauty,  the  dead 
will  return  from  the  Land  of  the  Dead." 

"  Spring  is  too  far  off,"  sobbed  Eagle.  "  It  is 
only  autumn  now.  I  want  my  wife  before  spring. 
I  want  her  just  now." 

"  Well,  come  with  me,  and  we  will  see  if  we  can 
get  her  now,"  said  Coyote. 

Eagle  wiped  his  tears  away  and  picked  up  a  bas- 
ket. Then  they  started  out  for  the  Land  of  the  Dead. 


WHY  THE  DEAD  DO  NOT  COME  BACK   127 

They  traveled  for  a  long  time,  until  they  came  to  a 
lake.  Across  it  they  could  see  houses,  but  there  was 
no  sign  of  people.  Everything  was  as  still  as  death. 

"Oh!  we  have  come  all  this  way  for  nothing," 
wailed  Eagle.  "  They  are  all  dead  here.  I  shall 
not  find  my  wife." 

"Wait  until  night,  Brother  Eagle,"  answered 
Coyote.  "  The  dead  sleep  in  the  daytime.  At 
night  they  come  out.  Let  us  rest  until  darkness 
falls."  He  threw  himself  down  under  a  cypress 
tree,  and  Eagle  lay  down  beside  him. 

When  the  sun  had  passed  into  the  west,  Coyote 
began  to  sing.  He  had  sung  only  a  short  time, 
when  four  men  came  out  of  the  houses  across  the 
lake  and  got  into  a  canoe.  Coyote  sang  on.  The 
men  did  not  touch  the  oars,  but  the  boat  skimmed 
over  the  water  to  the  cypress  tree. 

Coyote  and  Eagle  got  into  the  canoe.  Coyote 
kept  on  singing.  The  boat  skimmed  back  over  the 
water  toward  the  houses.  As  it  neared  the  shore, 
they  heard  music  and  drumming  and  dancing. 

"  What  a  good  time  the  dead  must  have  !  "  said 
Coyote.  "I  shall  be  glad  to  see  them  and  their 
houses." 

"You  must  not  enter  those  houses,"  cautioned 
the  four  men  in  the  boat.  "  You  must  not  look  at 
the  people.  This  is  a  sacred  place." 


128  IN   THE   REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

"But  we  are  cold  and  hungry,"  replied  Coyote. 
"  Do  let  us  in  to  warm  ourselves." 

"  Well,  you  may  come  in  for  a  little  while,"  con- 
ceded the  men. 

They  entered  a  large  mat  house.  There  were 
flowers  in  bloom  and  sweet  music,  and  the  people 
were  all  singing  and  dancing.  Everybody  looked 
well  and  happy. 

An  old  woman  came  toward  them.  She  carried 
a  glass  bottle  in  one  hand  and  a  feather  in  the 
other.  "Eat,  son,"  she  said,  and  she  dipped  the 
feather  into  the  bottle  and  passed  it  once  over 
Coyote's  tongue.  He  felt  as  well  satisfied  as  if 
he  had  eaten  a  hearty  meal. 

"  Eat,  son,"  the  old  woman  said  again,  and  she 
let  one  dip  of  the  feather  fall  into  Eagle's  mouth. 
His  hunger,  too,  was  satisfied. 

Coyote  and  Eagle  looked  around  them.  They 
saw  many  of  their  dead  friends.  The  friends  did 
not  answer  them  when  they  spoke,  nor  even  look 
at  them,  but  went  on  singing  and  dancing  and 
having  a  happy  time.  Coyote  saw  that  the  mat 
house  was  lighted  by  the  moon.  The  moon  was 
hung  from  the  ceiling,  and  the  frog  was  attending 
to  its  light.  As  night  faded,  the  spirit  songs 
became  fainter.  By  the  time  the  sun  appeared, 
all  the  dead  had  departed  to  sleep. 


WHY  THE  DEAD  DO  NOT  COME  BACK      129 

During  the  next  day  Coyote  killed  the  frog  and 
dressed  himself  in  its  clothes.  Then  at  night  he 
went  into  the  mat  house  and  attended  to  the  light 
of  the  moon.  All  the  dead  people  came  again  to 
the  mat  house.  They  began  singing  and  dancing 
in  a  happy  way.  Suddenly  Coyote  swallowed  the 
moon,  and  the  mat  house  was  in  darkness.  The 
spirit  people  began  groping  about.  Coyote  and 
Eagle  picked  them  up  and  put  them  into  the 
grass  basket  which  they  had  brought  from  home. 
Then  they  shut  the  basket  tight  and  started  back 
to  the  Land  of  the  Living. 

Coyote  carried  the  basket.  After  traveling  a 
long  while  he  heard  a  noise  inside  it.  He  pricked 
up  his  ears.  "Brother  Eagle,"  he  said,  "the  peo- 
ple are  beginning  to  come  to  life  again." 

Soon  they  heard  different  voices  from  the  bas- 
ket crying  out,  "  I  'm  being  bumped  ;  I  want  to  get 
out ;  I  want  to  get  out." 

The  basket  was  becoming  very  heavy.  The 
nearer  they  came  to  the  Land  of  the  Living,  the 
more  alive  the  people  became.  They  weighed 
nothing  when  they  were  spirits,  but  were  heavy 
when  they  became  alive.  Coyote  began  to  get 
tired  carrying  them.  He  said  to  Eagle,  "Why 
not  let  them  out  as  long  as  they  wish  to  come  ? " 

"  No,"  answered  Eagle  ;  "let's  get  them  home." 


130  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

Still  the  voices  from  within  grumbled  and  called 
aloud,  "  I  want  to  get  out ;  I  want  to  get  out." 
Still  the  weight  grew  heavier  with  every  step. 
Finally  Coyote  could  not  walk  under  it.  He  set 
the  basket  down. 

"I  am  going  to  let  them  out,"  he  said.  "They 
are  so  far  away  from  the  Land  of  the  Dead  that 
they  will  not  go  back  there  now."  He  opened  the 
basket.  The  dead  people  flew  out.  They  changed 
into  spirits  and  faded  like  the  wind. 

"Now,"  growled  Eagle,  "  see  what  you  've  done. 
You  '11  have  to  go  back  with  me  in  the  spring,  when 
the  new  buds  are  out,  and  try  to  get  them  back 
again." 

No,"  answered  Coyote,  "I'm  tired.  The  dead 
don't  want  to  come  back.  They  are  happier  in 
the  Land  of  the  Dead  than  we  are  in  the  Land 
of  the  Living.  Let  the  dead  stay  in  the  Land 
of  the  Dead  and  never  return  to  our  land." 

So  because  Coyote  made  this  law,  the  dead  do 
not  come  back.  If  he  had  not  opened  the  basket, 
they  would  have  returned  every  spring  with  the 
new  grass  and  the  fresh  blossoms. 


"  Do  you  think  my  canary  is  singing  now  in  the 
Land  of  the  Dead,  Klayukat  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Ninita,  he  is  singing  all  the  night  long." 


WHY  THE  DEAD  DO  NOT  COME  BACK      131 

"  And  is  he  happy,  too  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Chiquita,  happier  than  here." 

"  But  who  gives  him  seed  and  water  and  fresh 

chickweed  ? " 

"  The  dead  do  not  care  about  eating.    They  are 

happy  without  it.    You  may  be  sure  your  canary  is 

happier  than  here." 

"  Oh,  how  lovely  !    You  dear  Klayukat !    I  must 

go  and  watch  for  Tonio.    He'll  be  glad  to  have  me 

tell  him  this  story." 

Klayukat    looked    after   her.      " Pobrecita"    he 

murmured,   and    he    sighed    as    he  continued    his 

stitching. 


COYOTE'S  RIDE  ON  A 
STAR 

NE  day  the  children  had  been  attempt- 
ing to  act  La  Pastorela,  the  sacred 
play  which  they  saw  presented  every 
Christmas  Eve  at  San  Francisco.  They  found  it 
easy  to  take  the  different  parts  in  turn,  but  they 
had  difficulty  with  the  scenery.  They  had  fashioned 
a  star  of  sunflower  petals,  to  represent  the  golden 
Star  of  Bethlehem,  but  the  petals  faded  and  curled 
up,  and  the  star  was  not  much  of  a  success. 

"  Let 's  go  to  Wantasson.  Perhaps  he  can  fix  us 
a  star  of  real  fire,"  proposed  Juanita. 

"Of  course  he  can't,"  answered  Antonio;  "but 
we  can  ask  him  to  do  something  for  us." 

"  Make  you  a  star  ?  "  and  Wantasson  removed 
his  irons  from  the  fire  and  sat  down  in  the  door- 
way. "  I  don't  think  I  can  make  a  star.  A  man 
would  better  leave  stars  alone.  Think  what  the 
star  did  to  Coyote." 

132 


COYOTE'S   RIDE   ON   A   STAR  133 

"  To  Coyote  ?  Why,  what  did  a  star  do  to  Coy- 
ote ? "  and  the  children's  interest  was  transferred 
from  their  play  to  the  prospective  story. 

"  Well,  it  was  this  way."  Wantasson  spread  out 
his  feet  and  rested  his  shoulders  against  the  door, 
and  then  he  began  his  story. 


After  Coyote  had  gotten  fire  and  salmon  for  the 
animals  and  had  destroyed  their  enemies,  he  began 
to  feel  proud  of  himself. 

"  I  have  more  brains  than  any  of  the  other  ani- 
mals," he  said.  "I  ought  to  have  more  privileges 
than  the  rest  of  them." 

Just  then  he  noticed  the  stars  glimmering  above. 
"  That 's  what  I  want,"  he  thought,  —  "a  ride  on  a 
star.  All  the  other  animals  can  walk  on  the  earth, 
or  run  on  it.  I  ought  to  have  something  better.  I 
ought  to  have  a  journey  on  a  star." 

He  went  to  the  top  of  a  hill  and  called  to  the 
evening  star:  "  Come  here,  Bright  Star.  I  want  to 
take  a  ride  on  you." 

The  evening  star  only  winked  one  eye  and  did 
not  move  any  nearer. 

"  Did  you  hear  me,  O  Star  ?  I  am  the  great  Coy- 
ote. I  have  obtained  heat  and  food  for  the  animals, 
and  have  killed  their  destroyers.  Now  I  want  to 
journey  around  the  world.  Come  nearer  so  that  I 
can  jump  on  you." 


134  IN    THE    REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

The  evening  star  moved  slowly  away  and  smiled 
in  silence. 

At  the  next  sundown  Coyote  mounted  the  hill- 
top again,  and  again  called  to  the  star.  This  time 
the  evening  star  answered  in  the  soft  still  voice  that 
stars  use  on  summer  nights :  "  No,  Coyote.  You 
must  remain  on  earth.  'Great  as  you  are,  you  could 
not  stand  the  pace  of  the  stars." 

But  Coyote  would  not  be  content.  Every  night 
he  whined  and  howled  and  craved  and  entreated, 
until  at  last  the  evening  star  became  weary  of  his 
prayers. 

"Well,  jump  on  and  be  quick  about  it,"  it  said, 
in  the  keen  brisk  voice  that  stars  use  in  frost 
time. 

It  approached  the  hilltop  a  moment  and  then 
glided  off.  Coyote  leaped  and  barely  caught  hold 
of  it  with  his  front  paws.  The  star  began  whirling 
through  space  so  fast  that  poor  Coyote  could  not 
draw  himself  up  onto  its  surface.  He  had  to  exert 
all  his  strength  to  hold  on  at  all. 

The  star  whirled  along  through  the  coldest 
regions.  Coyote's  paws  became  numb  and  frozen. 
At  last  they  could  not  feel  any  longer,  and  be 
tumbled  to  the  earth.  It  took  him  ten  snows  to 
get  back,  and  then  he  fell  so  hard  that  he  was 
flattened  out  as  thin  as  a  hazel  bough. 


COYOTE'S    RIDE   ON   A   STAR  135 

Ever  since  his  fall  he  has  been  thin,  and  every 
evening  he  goes  up  to  the  hilltop  and  reproaches 
the  star  for  its  harsh  treatment. 


"I  think  the  evening  star  might  have  waited 
long  enough  to  let  him  get  comfortably  on  it,"  com- 
mented Juanita. 

"So  that's  why  the  coyotes  howl  every  night," 
observed  Antonio.  "  I  should  think  they  'd  be  tired 
by  this  time." 

"  Oh,  Coyote  does  not  get  tired.  He  is  not  like 
man.  That  is  why  man  is  so  great — because  Coyote 
did  not  get  tired  when  he  was  making  him." 

"When  Coyote  was  making  man?  Do  you  mean 
that  Coyote  made  man  ?  "  The  memory  of  his  cate- 
chism weighted  Antonio's  word  with  doubt. 

"  Oh,  have  I  not  told  you  that  story  ?  No,  I  can't 
tell  it  now.  Your  Senor  Padre  wants  these  spurs 
fixed  for  this  evening.  You  come  to-morrow,  and 
you  will  hear  about  it." 


THE  CREATION  OF  MAN 


[S  soon  as  their  lessons  were  over  in 
,the  morning,  the  children  hastened 

to  the  blacksmith  shop. 
"Good   morning,  Wantasson.     Are 
you    ready    to    tell    us    how    Coyote 
made  man  ? " 
"  Good  morning,  children.    Yes,  a  rest  will  do 
Wantasson  good.    Let  us   sit   in  the  sun,   and   I 
will  tell  you  the  story  now." 


After  Coyote  had  his  great  fall  from  the  star,  he 
sat  around  awhile  doing  nothing.  Soon  he  grew 
tired  of  this  and  said,  "I  must  do  something." 

He  looked  around  the  earth,  but  there  was  noth- 
ing to  do.  All  the  animals  were  warm  and  fat, 
and  Jiving  without  fear  of  anything.  "They  don't 
need  any  help,"  sighed  Coyote,  "but  I  must  do 
something.  I  think  I  '11  make  a  man." 
136 


THE   CREATION   OF   MAN  137 

He  went  down  to  the  creek  and  began  to  model 
a  figure  out  of  the  clay.  As  he  worked,  he  became 
dissatisfied  with  the  figure.  "  I  wish  I  could  make 
it  better,"  he  thought  to  himself.  "I  think  I  will 
ask  the  other  animals  for  their  opinions.  Perhaps 
they  can  give  me  some  good  ideas." 

He  called  all  the  animals  of  the  world  to  meet 
together  on  the  hilltop.  The  fishes  wobbled  up  from 
the  sea,  the  birds  swept  down  from  the  heavens,  and 
the  other  animals  came  hurrying  from  all  the  cor- 
ners of  the  earth.  They  sat  round  in  a  circle,  — 
Cougar,  Grizzly,  Antelope,  Mountain  Sheep,  Deer, 
and  so  on,  down  to  little  Mouse,  who  was  on  the  left 
of  Cougar.  In  the  center  sat  Coyote. 

He  said :  "  It  is  time  for  us  to  make  man.  Tell 
me  how  we  shall  make  him." 

"O-ho  !  "  burst  out  Cougar.  "That 's  easy.  Give 
him  a  mighty  voice  to  frighten  all  the  animals,  and 
long  hair,  and  strong  talons  with  terrible  fangs  at 
the  end  of  them.  Then  he  will  be  master  of  the 
world.  O-ho  !  "  and  Cougar  chuckled,  as  poor  little 
Mouse  shrunk  away  from  him. 

"  Gru-u-u  !  "  rumbled  Grizzly.  "  It 's  perfectly 
ridiculous  to  have  such  a  great  voice.  Half  the 
time  it  frightens  the  prey  so  that  it  can  hide.  Give 
him  a  big  enough  voice,  of  course,  but  give  him  sense 
enough  to  seldom  use  it.  Let  him  move  quietly 


138  IN   THE    REIGN    OF   COYOTE 

and  swiftly.  And  let  him  have  great  strength  to 
hold  his  capture." 

"  Huh  !  "  wheezed  Deer.  "  Strength  to  hold  is 
good  enough,  but  he  would  look  foolish  without 
antlers  to  fight  with.  I  think,  with  Grizzly,  that  it 
is  perfectly  absurd  to  give  him  a  roaring  voice.  I 
should  pay  less  attention  to  his  voice  and  more  to 
his  ears  and  eyes.  Have  his  ears  as  sensitive  as  the 
spider's  web,  and  his  eyes  like  coals  of  fire.  Then 
he  can  detect  any  approaching  danger." 

"  Baa-aa  !  "  bellowed  Mountain  Sheep.  "  Antlers 
are  only  a  bother.  They  always  catch  in  the  brush. 
You  would  do  better  to  roll  up  the  antlers  into  little 
horns  on  either  side  of  the  forehead.  That  will  give 
his  head  weight  and  enable  him  to  butt  harder." 

"  Oh,  you  animals  have  no  brains,"  interrupted 
Coyote.  "  You  each  want  man  to  be  just  like  your- 
self. You  might  as  well  take  one  of  your  own  chil- 
dren and  call  it  man.  Now  you  know  that  I  am  wiser 
than  any  of  you,  and  yet  I  want  man  to  be  better 
than  I  am.  Of  course  I  wish  him  to  have  four  legs 
like  myself,  and  five  toes.  But  Grizzly's  toes  spread 
out  straight  so  that  he  can  stand  on  two  feet.  That 
is  a  good  thing.  I  want  man's  toes  to  be  spread 
out  like  Grizzly's. 

"  Then,  too,  he  'd  better  have  no  tail,  like  Grizzly, 
for  tails  are  only  good  for  fleas  to  ride  on.  He  may 


THE   CREATION   OF   MAN  139 

have  a  voice  like  Cougar's,  but  he  need  not  roar  all 
the  time.  But  as  to  giving  him  thick  hair,  that 
would  be  a  burden.  Look  at  Fish.  He  is  naked, 
and  he  is  comfortable  under  the  hottest  sun.  So  I 
want  man's  skin  to  be  like  the  skin  of  Fish.  As  to 
claws,  they  should  be  like  Eagle's,  so  that  he  can 
carry  things.  Deer's  eyes  and  ears  are  good,  and 
his  throat,  too.  So  I  'd  make  man  with  ears  and 
eyes  and  throat  like  Deer's.  His  brains  should  be 
like  mine,  so  that  he  can  rule  the  whole  world." 

"Nonsense!  nonsense!"  Beaver  had  been  gur- 
gling for  some  time.  "  No  tail !  no  tail  !  Why,  he 
could  not  live  without  a  good  broad  tail.  How 
would  he  haul  his  mud  and  build  his  house  without 
a  tail  ? " 

"And  no  wings?"  hooted  Owl.  "No  wings, 
indeed !  You  are  perfectly  senseless  not  to  think 
of  giving  him  wings." 

"Pu-u-u!"  sniffed  Mole.  "It's  senseless  to  have 
wings.  They  only  bump  you  against  the  sky.  And 
eyes  are  useless,  too.  The  sun  only  burns  them. 
It  would  be  better  to  give  him  a  soft  fur,  and  let 
him^uddle  down  in  the  moist,  cool  earth." 

"  Living  in  the  earth  is  the  worst  nonsense  of 
all,"  exclaimed  Mouse.  "He  will  need  to  creep  into 
the  sunshine  to  get  warm.  And  he  needs  eyes  to 
see  what  he  is  eating." 


140  IN  THE  REIGN   OF  COYOTE 

"O  reech-o!"  began  Screech  Owl,  when  Coyote 
ordered  :  "  Stop  your  screeching.  You  may  all  go 
home.  I  '11  make  man  myself." 

Each  animal  echoed,  "  I  '11  make  man  myself," 
and  they  all  rushed  quarreling  and  snapping  to  the 
clay  bank.  Each  began  to  model  a  figure. 

At  sundown  they  stopped  to  sleep, — all  but  Coy- 
ote. He  went  on  working.  When  he  heard  snores 
from  every  bush,  he  went  among  the  models  of  the 
other  animals  and  destroyed  every  single  one.  Then 
he  returned  to  his  own  figure  and  worked  steadily. 
As  the  morning  star  mounted  in  the  heavens,  the 
figure  of  man  was  finished. 

"  Shine  bright  on  him,  O  Morning  Star  !  "  whis- 
pered Coyote.  "  Give  him  life  from  the  heavens, 
for  he  is  to  be  superior  to  us  all." 

The  morning  star  flashed  five  rays  on  the  figure. 
Man  straightened  himself  up.  His  eyes  brightened. 
He  stretched  out  his  arms.  Coyote  took  his  hand 
and  said  :  "  You  were  partly  made  in  the  light,  so 
you  will  always  love  the  sunshine.  You  were 
partly  made  in  the  night,  so  you  will  never  fear 
the  darkness.  Your  mind  will  be  active  under 
sun  or  stars.  You  must  gather  cunning  from  all 
times,  for  henceforth  you  are  to  be  the  ruler  of 
the  world." 


THE   CREATION    OF    MAN  141 

"  But  did  n't  Coyote  feel  sorry  to  have  man  the 
ruler  of  the  world,  when  he  had  been  the  most 
cunning  all  along?"  asked  Antonio. 

"  Oh,  Coyote  !  He  does  not  mind  about  man.  He 
and  man  are  good  friends.  And  he  is  more  cunning 
now,  for  you  know  man  made  him  more  cunning." 

"  Man  made  him  more  cunning  ?  How  could  man 
make  Coyote  more  cunning  ? " 

"  I  will  tell  you  that  story  another  time.  Now  I 
must  heat  my  irons.  Your  Sefior  Padre  will  be  in 
for  dinner  soon." 


WHY  THE  COYOTE  IS  SO 
CUNNING 


TAT  HEN  the  children  appeared  at  the  smithy 
y  Y       door  the  next  day,  Wantasson  put  down 
^8,*^      -*    the  irons  he  was  handling. 
|>      "  It  is  hard  work  being  a  blacksmith,"  he  mut- 
tered, and  he  drew  his  sleeve  across  his  brow. 
"Well,  rest  awhile  now,  Wantasson,"  said  Jua- 
nita,  with  sympathy  in  her  voice  and  eyes. 

"  Would  it  tire  you  to  tell  how  man  made  Coyote 
more  cunning  ?  "  inquired  Antonio. 

"  No,  talking  of  Coyote  does  not  tire  me."  He 
lounged  into  a  comfortable  position,  sighed  a  few 
times,  and  then  began  the  tale. 


Up  to  the  time  man  was  made,  all  the  animals 
were  equal.  It  is  true  that  Coyote  was  the  wisest 
of  them  all,  and  the  others  looked  to  him  for  advice, 
but  they  all  had  equal  rights  to  live  and  be  happy 
on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

When  man  was  created,  he  was  superior  to  them 
all.  Then  he  had  to  decide  which  animals  should 

142 


WHY   COYOTE    IS   SO   CUNNING          143 

be  considered  strongest.  He  sat  about  making 
bows,  one  for  each  animal  of  the  world  and  all 
of  different  lengths.  He  worked  during  every  ray 
of  light,  but  nine  sleeps  had  passed  before  he  had 
finished  all  the  bows.  Then  he  sent  word  to  the 
animals  that  he  would  distribute  the  bows  the 
next  sunrise. 

At  sundown  they  gathered  from  far  and  near, 
every  animal  both  great  and  small.  When  they  had 
all  settled  themselves  for  sleep  around  the  camp 
fire,  Coyote  thought  to  himself :  "  I  am  the  wisest 
of  the  animals,  so  I  ought  to  receive  the  longest 
bow.  I  think  I  will  not  sleep  at  all.  Then  I  will 
be  the  first  to  greet  man  at  sunris^e." 

It  was  hard  to  keep  awake  in  such  silence.  Coy- 
ote rubbed  his  eyes  and  wriggled  his  toes.  Still  he 
felt  sleepy.  "  I  must  skip  around  awhile,  or  I  shall 
surely  fall  asleep,"  he  murmured. 

He  jumped  and  skipped  around  the  fire.  The 
other  animals  began  to  waken.  "  Is  it  sunrise  so 
soon  ?  "  yawned  Grizzly. 

"  No.  Go  to  sleep,"  whispered  Coyote.  "  I  was 
just  getting  a  drink  and  stumbled  over  the  tree 
root."  To  himself  he  said:  "This  will  never  do.  If 
I  move  around,  all  the  others  will  keep  awake  too. 
If  I  do  not  move  around,  I  shall  certainly  fall 
asleep." 


144  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

Just  then  the  morning  star  peeped  up  over  the 
hilltop.  "I  will  watch  her,"  said  Coyote.  "Her 
movements  will  keep  me  awake." 

But  the  star  traveled  slowly,  and  his  eyelids  were 
weary  of  being  open.  "  I  know  what  I  will  do," 
and  he  sharpened  two  little  sticks  and  put  one  in 
each  eye  to  prop  up  his  eyelids.  "  Now  I  will  take 
a  tiny  nap,  while  my  eyes  are  fixed  on  the  star. 
When  the  sun  comes  up,  the  light  in  my  open  eyes 
will  waken  me." 

The  little  nap  grew  into  a  sound  sleep.  Coyote's 
head  lolled  over  on  a  manzanita  bush.  The  sharp 
sticks  in  his  eyes  pierced  right  through  the  eyelids 
and  kept  them  closed  fast.  Coyote  slept  on. 

The  morning  star  reached  high  in  the  sky.  The 
leaves  began  to  quiver.  The  birds  called  to  each 
other  their  morning  greetings.  The  animals  stirred, 
rubbed  their  eyes,  shook  themselves,  first  slowly 
and  then  faster,  and  jumped  to  their  feet  facing 
the  east.  Still  Coyote  slept  on. 

As  the  sun  stretched  its  golden  fingers  into  the 
heavens,  man  appeared  upon  the  hilltop.  The  ani- 
mals clustered  around  him,  all  but  Coyote,  who  still 
lay  asleep  unnoticed. 

Man  gave  the  first  bow  to  Cougar,  the  second  to 
Grizzly,  and  so  on  down  the  list,  until  he  reached 
little  stumpy  Frog.  After  he  had  given  Frog  his, 


"As  the  sun  stretched  its  golden  fingers  into  the  heavens  " 
145 


146  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

there  was  still  one  more  bow  left,  the  shortest  of 
them  all. 

Man  looked  around.  "What  animal  have  I 
missed  ? "  he  asked.  The  animals  glanced  round 
their  numbers.  "Why,  Coyote  is  not  here  !  "  said 
Cougar. 

Away  they  all  scampered  to  search  for  him. 
Soon  they  found  him,  fast  asleep,  with  his  head  on 
the  manzanita  branch.  They  danced  on  him  and 
shouted :  "  Oh,  hi,  Coyote !  Wake  up  !  wake  up  ! 
You  have  the  shortest  bow.  You  're  not  so  strong 
as  little  squatty  Frog.  Oh,  hi,  Coyote !  Coyote ! 
Ha,  ha ! " 

Coyote  sat  up  dazed.  The  sticks  held  his  eyelids 
shut  fast.  He  could  not  see,  but  he  could  feel  the 
sunshine ;  and  the  laughs  of  the  animals  mad- 
dened him. 

He  pulled  the  stick  out  of  his  right  eye,  then 
the  one  from  his  left.  He  blinked  his  eyes.  Yes, 
there  were  all  the  animals,  each  with  a  bow.  Only 
a  tiny  little  bow  was  left  at  man's  feet.  Coyote  put 
his  head  down  between  his  paws  and  wept. 

Man  felt  sorry  for  him,  and  said  to  the  animals: 
"You  should  not  laugh  at  him.  He  has  helped 
you  many  a  day.  As  I  cannot  make  him  the 
strongest  animal,  I  will  give  him  ten  times  his 
former  cunning." 


WHY    COYOTE    IS    SO   CUNNING  147 

Then  Coyote  lifted  up  his  head  and  looked  his 
thanks  into  man's  eyes. 

Ever  since  that  day  Coyote  has  not  been  the 
strongest  of  the  animals ;  but  he  is,  as  he  was 
before,  the  most  cunning  and  the  wisest.  And  to 
this  day  he  is  a  friend  of  man  and  never  hurts 
one  of  man's  children. 


"  Were  n't  those  animals  horrid  to  laugh  at  him, 
when  he  had  been  so  good  to  them  ?  "  and  Juanita's 
eyes  flamed  with  indignation. 

"  Yes,  I  'm  glad  that  he 's  still  the  most  cunning. 
And  he  never  hurt  a  man,  did  he,  Wantasson  ?  " 

"  No,  young  Antonio.  Never  did  he,  and  never 
.will  he.  But  there  is  that  Tecla  coming  this  way. 
You  go  to  her.  I  must  return  to  my  work,"  and 
the  party  dispersed. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE 
PLEIADES 

HE  children's  father  had  showed 
them  a  map  of  the  heavens  in  an 
old  astronomy  that  had  belonged 
to  their  great-grandfather.  He  had  also 
pointed  out  certain  groups  in  the  sky 
and  had  told  them  the  old  stories  con- 
nected with  each.  They  were  charmed  with  their 
new  knowledge,  and  night  after  night  they  insisted 
on  indicating  the  Dipper,  Orion,  Cassiopeia's  Chair, 
and  the  Pleiades,  and  repeating  by  turns  the  myth 
of  each. 

One  day  they  were  discussing  the  story  of  the 
Pleiades  near  the  blacksmith  shop.  Wantasson 
stood  at  his  door  and  listened  to  them. 

"Ugh  ! "  he  muttered.  "  My  people  have  a  better 
story  than  that  about  the  seven  sisters,  —  a  better 
story." 

148 


THE   STORY   OF   THE    PLEIADES          149 

"  Oh,  have  you  a  story  about  the  seven  sisters, 
Wantasson  ? "  and  the  two  children  were  at  his 
side,  eager  to  listen. 

"Yes,  we  have  seven  sisters  up  in  the  sky,  too, 
but  they  are  not  the  seven  sisters  you  children  were 
just  talking  about." 

Wantasson  sank  to  the  doorsill  and  fixed  himself 
comfortably. 

Many,  many  rains  ago,  when  the  earth  was  still 
in  its  infancy,  seven  brothers  wedded  seven  sisters, 
and  they  all  lived  in  one  little  village  together. 
Socoy,  the  oldest  brother,  married  Fosate,  the  eld- 
est sister ;  Vichili,  the  second  brother,  married  the 
second  sister,  Alachu ;  and  so  on  they  mated, 
according  to  their  ages,  —  Stapocono  and  Moquem  ; 
Chapac  and  Yacumu ;  Sauset  and  Ajalis ;  Canuya 
and  Tacchel ;  until  the  youngest  brother,  Tucay, 
took  unto  himself  the  youngest  sister,  the  radiant 
Lilote. 

In  the  daytime  the  seven  brothers  climbed  the 
hills  together,  hunting  game,  while  the  seven  sisters 
went  together  down  to  the  lake  basin  to  dig  roots. 

Every  evening,  as  the  sun  withdrew  to  his  coun- 
cil with  the  creators,  the  sisters  returned  home. 
Their  shoulders  were  bent  low  with  loads  of  lily 
roots.  Always  they  found  the  seven  brothers  at 


150  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

home  before  them,  lying  around  the  fire,  with 
tongues  eager  to  explain  the  lack  of  game.  Night 
after  night  the  six  oldest  brothers  had  nothing  for 
their  wives.  Tucay  alone  each  sundown  produced 
a  rabbit  for  his  Lilote.  In  silence  the  sisters  roasted 
their  roots  and  shared  them  with  their  husbands. 

This  experience  was  repeated  daily  for  eight 
moons.  Then  the  sisters  began  to  grumble  among 
themselves.  Fosate,  the  eldest,  said:  "This  will 
not  do.  My  bones  are  rattling  in  my  skin.  I  want 
flesh  food.  We  must  think  of  something  to  do  to 
save  ourselves." 

The  next  morning  the  seven  husbands  took  their 
bows  and  arrows  and  went  to  meet  the  sun.  Then 
Fosate  said  to  her  youngest  sister :  "  Lilote,  you 
must  stay  here  to-day.  Hide  yourself  behind  the 
willows,  and  when  our  husbands  come  home,  watch 
what  they  do.  Then  you  can  tell  them  that  you 
stayed  at  home  because  you  had  a  pain  in  your 
face." 

When  the  sun  was  smiling  its  broadest,  Lilote 
heard  the  brothers  returning.  She  hid  herself 
behind  the  willows.  Laughing,  each  man  threw 
down  two  rabbits  and  busied  himself  renewing 
the  fire.  As  the  flames  changed  the  wood  into 
coals,  they  skinned  their  prey.  Tucay  chose  the 
larger  of  his  rabbits  and  laid  it  to  one  side. 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PLEIADES         151 

Thereupon  Socoy,  his  eldest  brother,  laughed 
at  him.  "O  stupid  Tucay  !  to  stint  yourself,  when 
your  Lilote  knows  nothing  of  your  success  !  We 
men  need  the  flesh  to  give  us  great  strength.  It 
is  a  woman's  place  to  deny  herself  for  us." 

The  five  other  brothers  argued  in  the  same  strain. 
Tucay  answered  each  time:  "  You  do  what  you  like. 
I  wish  to  save  half  of  my  game  for  my  wife." 

"And  the  better  half  at  that,"  scoffed  Socoy; 
and  all  the  others  joined  in  teasing  their  youngest 
brother. 

Lilote  behind  the  willows  heard  and  saw  all.  Her 
heart  quickened  as  she  listened  to  Tucay's  words. 
Her  mouth  watered  when  the  rabbit  legs  sizzled  on 
the  hot  coals,  but  she  kept  as  still  as  the  quail  in 
the  thicket. 

The  brothers  licked  their  lips  in  satisfaction  over 
the  last  morsels,  and  hid  the  bones  and  skins  in  the 
gulch  below  the  village.  Then  they  settled  around 
the  fire  to  smoke. 

In  a  little  while  Lilote  came  noisily  out  of  her 
own  hut.  She  rubbed  her  eyes  and  yawned  broadly. 
Her  face  was  bound  up  in  cascara  leaves.  As  she 
saw  the  brothers,  she  stopped  in  apparent  surprise. 
"  Are  you  home  so  soon,  or  have  I  slept  all  day  ? 
I  had  a  pain  in  my  face  this  morning  and  did  not 
go  out.  How  much  game  did  you  get  ?  " 


152  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

She  seemed  sleepy  and  unsuspicious.  The  broth- 
ers asked  a  few  questions,  and  then  believed  that 
she  knew  nothing  of  their  feast. 

When  the  sisters  returned  that  night,  there  was 
the  same  old  story  of  no  game.  Then  in  silence 
they  roasted  their  roots  and  shared  them  with  their 
husbands.  As  Lilote  watched  the  men  eat,  she 
thought:  "These  must  surely  be  gopher  snakes. 
No  man  could  eat  a  meal  so  soon  after  their 
gorging." 

When  the  brothers  settled  around  the  fire  again 
and  began  smoking,  the  sisters  crept  behind  the 
willows.  There  Lilote  whispered  the  story  of  their 
husbands'  treachery. 

"  Let  us  steal  down  to  the  lake,"  murmured 
Fosate,  "and  there  think  what  to  do." 

Down  along  the  stream's  bank  they  stole  with- 
out a  word:  When  they  reached  the  shore  of  the 
lake,  they  huddled  together  in  the  darkness. 

Fosate  declared :  "  We  must  do  something  to  get 
away  from  these  greedy  men.  What  shall  we  do?" 

"Let  us  change  ourselves  into  water,"  suggested 
Alachu,  the  second  sister. 

"Oh,  no!  They  would  drink  us,"  the  others 
answered. 

"  Let  us  change  ourselves  into  stone,"  said 
Moquem,  the  third  sister. 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PLEIADES         153 

"Oh,  no!  They  would  step  on  us,"  came  the 
response. 

"  Let  us  turn  ourselves  into  trees,"  recommended 
Yacumu,  the  fourth  sister. 

"  Oh,  no  !    They  would  burn  us,"  was  the  chorus. 

"  Let  us  change  ourselves  into  quails,"  advised 
Ajalis,  the  fifth  sister. 

"Oh,  no!  They  would  shoot  us,"  the  others 
replied. 

"  Let  us  turn  ourselves  into  stars,"  said  Tacchel, 
the  sixth  sister. 

"  Oh,  no  !  They  would  look  at  us,"  rang  out  five 
voices. 

But  Lilote  said:  "Yes,  let  us  change  ourselves 
into  stars.  Then  we  shall  be  out  of  reach." 

"And  we  can  watch  them  hunt  for  us,"  added 
Tacchel.  This  decided  the  sisters.  Stars  they 
would  be. 

They  said  to  the  tules  on  the  lake's  brink:  "O 
tules !  give  us  your  aid.  We  wish  a  boat  lighter 
and  swifter  than  any  canoe.  We  want  to  sail 
into  the  very  heavens,  away  from  these  greedy 
husbands." 

They  fashioned  the  tules  into  a  boat  and  carried 
it  to  a  high  point  of  rock.  Then  they  stepped  into 
it  and  rowed  off  into  space.  When  they  were  far 
enough  away,  they  got  out  and  sat  together  in  a 


154  IN   THE   REIGN   OF   COYOTE 

group  in  the  sky.  Then  they  let  the  tule  boat  glide 
back  to  earth. 

From  their  seat  on  high  they  watched  their  hus- 
bands. The  six  oldest  brothers  looked  around  a 
little  while  and  then  settled  back  to  smoke  by  the 
fire.  But  Tucay,  the  youngest,  wandered  around 
wailing.  "My  wife,  my  fair  Lilote,"  he  cried,  "come 
again  and  warm  my  heart.  No  more  shall  I  follow 
the  advice  of  my  brothers.  You  shall  have  all  that 
I  slay.  Come,  Lilote,  come,  or  I  perish  in  this 
loneliness." 

Lilote  watched  his  misery  for  a  day  and  a  night. 
Then  she  declared :  "  I  shall  throw  myself  back  to 
earth.  I  cannot  leave  him  so." 

"  And  would  you  not  grieve  for  us  ?  "  inquired 
Fosate. 

"  We  will  never  go  back,"  cried  the  other  sisters. 
"  O  little  one !  do  not  desert  us." 

Lilote  endured  her  husband's  sorrow  for  another 
day  and  another  night.  Then  she  said,  "I  must 
go  back,  sisters,  although  I  shall  ever  grieve  over 
your  absence." 

"  No,  little  one,"  answered  Fosate.  "You will  stay 
here,  and  we  will  bring  your  beloved  to  you.  He 
has  proved  himself  worthy  of  our  companionship." 

All  the  sisters  agreed  to  this,  and  they  told 
Tucay  how  to  use  the  tule  boat.  He  came  speeding 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PLEIADES          15$ 

up  to  them,  and  they  changed  him  into  the  constel- 
lation Taurus. 

You  can  still  see  them  sitting  in  the  high  heavens, 
the  Pleiades  and  Taurus,  always  in  happy  compan- 
ionship and  ever  watching  over  the  loyal  lovers  of 
this  world. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  so  glad  they  took  up  Tucay.  You 
would  n  't  eat  all  the  rabbits  and  give  me  none, 
would  you,  Tonio  ?  "  and  Juanita  pressed  her  head 
against  her  brother's  arm. 

"  No,  Ninita  mia."  Antonio  moved  himself  free. 
"  I  'd  get  the  rabbits,  and  you'd  get  the  roots,  and 
we  would  build  a  big  fire  as  they  do  at  the  barbe- 
cues, and  roast  them.  Let 's  play  barbecue  now. 
I  '11  go  back  of  the  corral  and  make  a  fire.  You 
can  go  and  ask  Maria  for  a  piece  of  meat.  And 
get  some  figs.  They  '11  do  for  roots,"  and  Antonio 
started  off. 

"  Aha,  Tonito  !  So  Juanita  will  be  bringing  both 
the  rabbit  and  the  roots.  You  're  worse  than  the  six 
brothers,"  and  Wantasson  chuckled  as  the  children 
sped  away  to  their  play. 


GLOSSARY  OF  CALIFORNIA  TERMS 

Abalone :  a  shellfish  found  on  the  Pacific  coast,  having  an 

iridescent  shell. 
Adobe :   originally   the  sun-baked    bricks ;   also  applied    to 

buildings  built  of  these  bricks. 
Barbecue :  the  roasting  of  a  whole  animal  in  a  pit,  —  the 

principal  feature  of  many  a  festivity. 
Cascara    sagrada :   a  medicinal   plant  whose  value    is  now 

appreciated  by  the  whole  world.    Tons  of  the  bark  are 

shipped  from  California  annually. 
Chiquita  :  a  diminutive  of  endearment. 
La  Fiesta  del  Senor  :  Christmas  Day. 
Lagunita  :  a  little  lake. 
La  Pastorela  :  a  play  performed  at  all  the  Spanish-Californian 

settlements  on  Christmas  Eve.   It  represented  the  story 

of  the  Nativity  and  of  the  triumph  of  the  Faith  over 

the  wiles  of  Satan. 
Madre  :  mother. 
Mission    San    Francisco    d'Assisi :    the   foundation   of   the 

present  city  of  San  Francisco. 
Ninita    mia:    "my   little   girl,"    a   very    common    term    of 

endearment. 
Padre :  father. 

'57 


158      GLOSSARY  OF  CALIFORNIA  TERMS 

Pobrecita  :  "  poor  little  one,"  commonly  used  to-day. 
Quadrangle :  the  Spanish-Californian  homes  of  the  better  class 

were  built  in  the  shape  of  a  quadrangle,  with  a  central 

court. 
Ripe  olives :  the  ripe  olives  are  those  which  are  not  picked 

from  the  trees  until  they  are  mature.    They  are  pickled 

in  brine,  just  as  the  green  unripe  olives  are,  but  are  as 

much  more  delicious  as  is  a  ripe  plum  than  an  unripe 

one. 

Senor:  sir. 
Tortillas:    unleavened   cakes  of   Indian  corn  or  of  wheat 

baked  on  the  coals. 
Tules :  water  reeds. 
Whalebone :  the  vertebrae  of  the  whale  were  used  to  pave 

streets  and  yards.     A  vertebra  was  often  used   as  a 

seat. 


INDEX 


Abalone,  69 

Acorn,  22 

Adobe,  32,  47 

Alder,  92 

Alta  California,  vii,  4 

Ant>  3J-33 
Antelope,  13,  137 
Ash,  9 
Awl,  80,  81,  104 

Baby-blue-eyes,  12 

Baja  California,  vii,  4 

Bat,  114-117 

Bear,  26 

Beaver,  13,  50,  96-99,  139 

Blacksmith,  23,  33 

Blue  Jay,  48-50,  53~S4,  63,  64, 

66,  67,  68,  69 
Brass  buttons,  5,  22 
Buttercups,  12 

Canary,  125,  130,  131 
Cascara,  47,  151 
Cassiopeia's  Chair,  148 
Cat,  32,  74 
Cedar,  9,  193 
Chaparral,  12 
Chicken  Hawk,  53 


Clam,  68-69 

Cloud,  31-32 

Coffee  berry,  12 

Colors,  63-69 

Cottonwood,  92 

Cougar,  13, 35-37, 137, 144,  M6 

Coyote,  5-6, 7-13,1 5-20, 25-29, 
38-41,56-57,95-99, 100-104, 
109-113,  118-124,  125-131, 
132-135,  136-141,  142-147 

Crab  apple,  39,  40—41 

Crane,  82-83,  90-91,  115,  116 

Cricket,  34-37 

Crow,  91 

Cypress,  127 

Daughters  of  Blue  Jay,  65-69 
Deer,  76-83,  101,  102,  104,  137, 

138,  139 
Dipper,  the,  148 

Dog,  13,  32.  74 
Dog  Star,  54 

Eagle,   9-13,  44-45,    126-130, 

139 

Elder,  39,  40,  98 
Elk,  28,  89,  101 
Epiphany,  75 


i6o 


IN   THE   REIGN   OF  COYOTE 


Feather,  no,  in 
Fig  trees,  105 
Fir,  12,  93 

Fire,  25-29,  32-33,  93,  115,  116 
Fish,  137,  139 
Flea,  37 
Flint,  17,  19 
Fox,  28,  57 

Frog,  5-6,  21-22,  28-29,  59-61, 
128,  129,  144,  146 

Good  Kings,  74,  75 

Great  Bear,  54 

Grizzly,  13,  76-83, 137,  138,  143 

Hawk,  16-19 

Hazel,  39,  40,  85,  134 

Jack  Rabbit,  105-108 
Knife,  33 

La  Fiesta  del  Senor,  74 

Land,  9-12 

Land  of  the  Dead,  125-131 

Lark,  49,  61 

Lizard,  115-116 

Loon,  53 

Lower  California,  vii,  4 

Man,  135,  136-141,  142-147 
Man-of-tar,  70-74 
Manzanita,  12,  144,  146 
Maple,  92 
Mole,  139 


Moon,  19-20,56-58,59-61, 128, 

129 

Mosquito,  37,  38-42 
Mountain  sheep,  101,  137,  138 
Mountains,  12 
Mouse,  32,  52-53,  137,  139 

Nightingale,  49 

Oak,  5,  21,  40,  41 

Orion,  148 

Owl,  53,  113,  118-124,  !39>  T4° 

Ox,  33 

Panther,  26 
Pine,  12,  39,  41 
Pleiades,  148-155 
Poppies,  12 
Potentilla,  65,  66 

Rabbit,  105-108 
Raccoon,  70-74 
Rat,  52-53 
Rattlesnake,  43-46 
Redwood,  12 
Robin,  49,  52,  85-94 

Salmon,  95-99 
Salmon  Berry,  85-90 
Serpents,  12-13 
Seven  sisters,  148-155 
Sickness,  n 
Skate,  49-50 
Skunk,  50-52 
Snow,  31 


INDEX 


161 


Southwest  wind,  47-55 

Squirrel,  28,  74 

Star,  132-135, 140, 144, 148-155 

Stick,  32 

Sun,  15-19,  31,  105-108,  144 

Sunflower,  8,  in,  132 

Taurus,  155 

Three  Wise  Kings,  75 

Thrush,  49 

Thunder,  109-113,  114 


Tick,  100-104 

Tules,  17,  19,  153,  154 

Turkey,  53 

Vine  maple,  93 

Water,  33 

Whip-poor-will,  60-61 
Willow,  91-92 
Wind,  32,  47-55>  II6 
Witch,  44-46 
Wren,  49 


UN.VERS.TY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Lo»  Angeles 
This  book  I.  DUE  on  the  last  date  .tamped  below. 


f      ,-UAtt 


Form  L9-2 


OCTl  1  1989 


to-uw 
JAN      FEB  0  5  1988 

MAR 
API 

oct 
4U 

o  o 

• 

MAY  1 

RES 


LO/URL 

DEC  08 198) 

URL  CIRC 

3  ID-URL 

OCT11 

NO 


WENtWBLE 


JUN  01  995 


KCERIQ 


3   1158  00113  7040 


